Tragedy on the route: Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked a bus with children from Belarus

In the Bryansk region, a drone attacked a bus carrying a children's soccer team from Gomel. As a result, a woman accompanying the athletes was killed, and six more people were injured. A criminal case has been opened into the incident. The information about where and under what circumstances the attack took place, as well as what is known about the condition of the victims, is provided in the Izvestia article.

How did the attack on the bus happen

On the morning of June 17, an airplane-type drone attacked a double-decker bus carrying a children's football team from the Gomel region of Belarus on the A240 highway in the Bryansk region. The transport followed the Gomel— Gelendzhik route.

According to the authorities, there were 44 people on the bus, including 28 pupils of the children's and youth sports school No. 2 in the city of Rechitsa. The children, along with their escorts, were on their way to Gelendzhik for a vacation.

As a result of the attack, a woman accompanying the group died. Six other people were injured, including four children. This was announced by Acting Governor of the Bryansk region Egor Kovalchuk.

"Ukrainian terrorists attacked the bus of the Gomel children's football team, who were going on vacation to Gelendzhik," Kovalchuk wrote on his Telegram channel.

All the injured were promptly taken to medical institutions, where they receive the necessary assistance. The remaining passengers are scheduled to be returned home soon.

According to Kovalchuk, the children were on their way to Krasnodar Krai for a vacation. After the incident, the regional authorities took measures to accommodate passengers. The Department of Physical Culture and Sports of the Bryansk region reported that they were ready to provide the group members with food and temporary accommodation.

What is known about the dead and injured

A woman accompanying the group was killed in a drone attack on a bus carrying a children's soccer team. According to Egor Kovalchuk, six people were injured, including four children. Later, Russian Assistant Minister of Health Alexei Kuznetsov clarified that seven victims, including five minors, had been taken to hospitals.

One of the children is in serious condition. The rest of the injured are receiving the necessary medical care.

To provide support to the victims and their relatives, the Prosecutor's office of the Bryansk region has opened a hotline. You can ask for advice by phone: +7 (962) 138-15-15.

Doctors continue to monitor the condition of those hospitalized, and regional authorities are coordinating the provision of all necessary assistance to the victims and their families.

A criminal case has been opened

After the drone attack on a bus carrying a children's soccer team, the Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Terrorist act").

According to the official representative of the department, Svetlana Petrenko, investigators are establishing all the circumstances of the incident, as well as those involved in organizing and committing the attack.

As part of the investigation, evidence is being collected and the necessary examinations are being conducted. The actions of all those involved will be given a legal assessment.

The investigation is under the control of the central office of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

The reaction of the authorities and officials

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus has demanded "comprehensive explanations" from the Ukrainian side in connection with the attack on a bus carrying Belarusian children. This was announced by the press secretary of the department Ruslan Varankov. According to him, Minsk strongly condemns the incident, and he called the strike an act of terrorism against the civilian population. The diplomatic department also pointed out the need for strict observance of the rules for organizing trips of citizens, especially children, abroad and emphasized the inadmissibility of their travel to conflict zones and adjacent territories.

Russian officials also reacted to the incident. Acting Governor of the Bryansk region Egor Kovalchuk called the attack a deliberate provocation, which, according to him, could be aimed not only at attacking a civilian facility, but also at further escalating the conflict.

"This is a deliberate terrorist attack against Belarusian children in order to provoke official Minsk to respond harshly and escalate the fighting," the statement said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, commenting on the incident, said that what happened was "another terrorist attack by the Kiev regime, which preys on civilians."

The Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, Yana Lantratova, also gave her assessment of the incident. She called the attack a war crime, stressing that from the point of view of international humanitarian law, actions that result in civilian casualties, especially children, are unacceptable.

The response to the incident continues to come from Russian and Belarusian official structures, which are monitoring the situation and providing necessary assistance to the victims.

Other APU attacks on passenger transport

The attack on a bus carrying a children's football team in the Bryansk region was not the first such incident in recent times.

On May 28, a Ukrainian drone attacked a bus en route from Makeyevka to Sevastopol in the Donetsk People's Republic. According to Alexander Kachanov, the head of the Dokuchaevsk city district, there were six passengers and two drivers in the cabin. People managed to leave the vehicle and take shelter, thus avoiding casualties. However, one of the drivers later died for reasons unrelated to the injuries sustained in the attack.

Three days later, on May 31, a Ukrainian drone struck a passenger bus en route from Starobilsk to Moscow. The incident occurred on the territory of the city of Rubezhnoye in the Luhansk People's Republic. There were 11 people in the cabin at the time of the attack. According to preliminary data, none of the passengers and crew members were injured.

Another case was recorded on June 2. A Ukrainian drone attacked a regular bus carrying out the Rubezhnoye— Kremennaya route. As a result of the impact, three people were injured. All the victims received the necessary medical assistance. On the same day, there were also reports of an attack on a passenger train at the Dzhankoy railway station in Crimea.

Early in the morning on June 3, a drone attacked a passenger bus from Moscow to Simferopol in Yenakiyevo, Donetsk People's Republic. There were 46 people in the cabin at the time of the impact. Many passengers were on their way to Crimea for a vacation, and some of them were still asleep at the time of the incident.