©Sarah Noltner via Unsplash
A bus carrying a youth soccer team from Belarus was attacked by a drone on Wednesday in the Russian region of Bryansk, which borders both Ukraine and Belarus. Russia is calling it a “Ukrainian drone attack,” but Kyiv strongly denies this.
According to local Russian authorities, a woman accompanying the team was killed. The Russian Ministry of Health reports that seven people were injured, including five children. All of the injured were taken to hospital. The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a terrorism investigation and says the bus was carrying 44 passengers, including 28 children.
Photos from a Belarusian TV station show a gray bus with holes on one side, and some of the windows blown out. However, at the present time, it remains unknown what exactly happened.
Russia accuses Ukraine; Kyiv denies
Moscow says Ukraine is responsible for the act. The Belarusian foreign minister called the attack “yet another terrorist act against civilians” and demanded “comprehensive explanations” from Kyiv.
But the Ukrainian military denies the Russian claims and says they are false. The General of the Ukrainian Army refuted the accusations: According to AFP, “during the period in question, the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not use unmanned aircraft against targets in the Bryansk region."
Kyiv views this as “yet another information provocation by the Kremlin.” “Russia cannot achieve its war aims and so resorts to leveling accusations against Ukraine,” according to a statement on Telegram.
Belarus, which borders Ukraine and NATO’s eastern flank, has a strong alliance with Russia. Minsk has therefore been at odds with Kyiv ever since Russia used Belarus as a launchpad for the invasion that began in 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the authorities to “do everything” to help the wounded. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced this as “a barbaric terrorist act.”
©Sarah Noltner via Unsplash - illustrative image of a bus