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The road of terror: what the Ukrainian Armed Forces militants who attacked a bus with children near Bryansk were trying to achieve
The only response to terror can be the complete and uncompromising destruction of terrorists. Experts interviewed by Izvestia agreed on this opinion, commenting on the cynical attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces militants on a bus in the Bryansk region, in which a children's football team from neighboring Belarus was on vacation. The Kremlin called the Ukrainian drone strike on civilian transport a planned and targeted terrorist attack. As a result of the attack, a woman accompanying the children was killed, and eight more people, including six minors, were injured. Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed to provide all necessary assistance to the victims. Attacks on civilians are a terror program that the Kiev regime, which so often declares its commitment to protecting children, consistently implements with the help of its Western partners. Moscow is confident that Ukraine's foreign curators will again prefer not to notice the crime committed by the militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In addition, one of the goals of the terrorist attack could be to aggravate the already tense relations between Kiev and Minsk.
The "heinous crime of the Zelensky regime"
On the afternoon of June 17, an APU drone attacked a bus carrying a children's football team from Belarus to Gelendzhik on the A-240 highway. As a result of the impact, a woman accompanying the team died. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health of Belarus, eight people were injured, including six children. They have shrapnel wounds. According to the Commissioner for Children's Rights in the Russian Federation, Maria Lvova-Belova, the children were sent to the Bryansk Regional Children's Hospital. The passengers, who were not injured, were transported to a temporary accommodation facility in the nearest town, said the head of the Bryansk region, Egor Kovalchuk.
The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a case of a terrorist attack (Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to the agency, the bus belonged to the children's and youth sports school No. 2 in the city of Rechitsa. At the time of the attack, there were 44 people in it, including 28 child athletes. The group was on their way to rest.
Investigators have released footage from the scene: the bus body is riddled with shrapnel, windows and doors are broken.
An investigation has also been launched in Belarus. According to Konstantin Bychek, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Republic, Belarusian investigators are in constant contact with their Russian counterparts.
"A criminal case has been opened on this fact. We are in close cooperation with the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed Health Minister Mikhail Murashko to take all necessary measures to help those affected by the attack. This was announced by the press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov. In his opinion, the blow was inflicted purposefully.
"Drone operators can clearly see where they are hitting. It was not a military vehicle, it was a bus that transported civilians, in this case children," Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with RT.
He stressed that Russia's response would be to continue the special military operation.
"I would like to assume that this tragedy will again be ignored in European capitals, that again we will not hear any words of condemnation from the leadership in European capitals. But this does not mean that we should give up. On the contrary, we must continue to tell the whole world about these atrocities without exaggeration," the Kremlin spokesman said.
Three intensive care teams from Belarus have been sent to Bryansk, the republic's Minister of Health, Alexander Khodzhaev, told BelTA. The medical team consisted of 11 specialists.
Together with Russian doctors, they will assess the condition of the injured and decide on the possibility of transporting them to Belarus or providing the necessary assistance on the spot.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the incident was "absolutely in the style of the Kiev regime" — deliberately, hoping to sow panic and undermine the unity of the people.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the attack a heinous crime and also stressed that the strike was planned.
"We strongly condemn this heinous crime of the Zelensky regime, which, contrary to its hypocritical statements about its alleged commitment to protecting children, deliberately puts them in danger and does not hesitate to make them the target of planned attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces," she said.
Zakharova called on international organizations, national governments and the world community to assess what happened and condemn the attack.
"Civilians must always be protected"
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry has already demanded "exhaustive explanations" from the Ukrainian side. The ministry called the incident another act of terrorism against the civilian population.
"We strongly condemn the attack on a civilian bus carrying Belarusian citizens, including children, in the Bryansk region of the Russian Federation. We regard this as another act of terrorism against the civilian population," said Ruslan Varankov, a representative of the Belarusian department.
The building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus in Minsk
Russian Ambassador to Belarus Boris Gryzlov said that all those involved in the attack on the bus will be identified. According to him, the strike was carried out purposefully, since civilian transport "could not be confused with military equipment."
"This is the true face of the Kiev regime. They are war criminals, starting with the man who controlled the drone and ending with the entire top," he said.
The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Yana Lantratova, called the attack on the bus, in which defenseless children were injured, a war crime from the point of view of international humanitarian law. She added that she would keep the situation under personal control and contact her colleagues from Belarus.
Valery Revenko, head of the Department of International Military cooperation of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus, said that all military attaches accredited in the republic condemned the attack of a Ukrainian drone on a bus.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed its condolences to the relatives of the deceased and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
"Every life lost or affected by this conflict is a tragedy. And when children suffer, it's especially hard," the organization told Izvestia.
The ICRC reported that issues of concern in connection with the conduct of hostilities are discussed directly with the parties to the conflict "as part of a confidential dialogue."
"We do not bring these discussions into the public space. This allows us to speak openly with them and gives us the opportunity to influence the situation of people affected by the conflict. Civilians must always be protected," the organization concluded.
Natalia, one of the mothers who accompanied the children's team from Belarus to Gelendzhik, told Ruptly that shortly before the attack, cartoons were turned on for the children. According to her, they started laughing, and at that moment there was an explosion.
Immediately after the impact, screams and panic began. Her child was seriously injured.
Victoria Goroshko, who died at the hands of Ukrainian militants, was traveling to Gelendzhik with her husband, a coach of a children's football team. She is survived by two daughters.
"With the help of their Western partners"
Some time after the attack on the bus on the same highway, an APU drone struck a car carrying a pregnant woman and two children, they were miraculously unharmed.
At the same time, attacks on civilians were also carried out in other border regions. The operational headquarters of the Belgorod region reported on June 17 that over the past day, drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked 79 settlements. One civilian was killed and six wounded. In the Kursk region, a Ukrainian drone attacked a gas station in the city of Oboyan, killing one person and injuring two others, Governor Alexander Khinstein said.
Kiev's frequent attacks on civilian targets in Russia are aimed at intimidating the civilian population, political analyst Yevgeny Mikhailov told Izvestia. According to him, Ukraine is trying to create a sense of insecurity among Russians.
Only in June, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked passenger buses in Yenakiyevo, near Melitopol and in the village of Voznesenovka, Belgorod region. According to Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik, May has become the bloodiest month since the beginning of 2026 in terms of the number of civilians killed and injured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces: 1,038 people were injured during the month, 153 of them died. The bloodiest episode was the attack on the college in Starobilsk: 21 people were killed.
One of Kiev's goals remains to disrupt transport links with Crimea and disrupt the tourist season, political analyst Yuri Svetov believes.
— Attacks on trains, buses, and bridges are a terror program against the Russian population. It is being consistently implemented with the help of their Western partners," he said.
According to Svetov, Western countries prefer not to notice such attacks because they support the military tactics of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and continue to increase the supply of weapons to Ukraine, including drones, long-range weapons, reconnaissance systems and ammunition.
At the same time, a strike on a bus carrying Belarusian children could worsen relations between Kiev and Minsk, Mikhailov believes. It happened at a time when relations between the parties are already tense. Zelensky has repeatedly publicly stated that Russia is allegedly considering scenarios for new strikes from the territory of Belarus — both in the Chernihiv-Kiev direction and in one of the NATO countries.
Minsk denies these accusations. Alexander Lukashenko stated that Ukraine has "absolutely nothing to fear" from Belarus, and talks about the threat, according to him, are fueled for political reasons.
"This is pure terrorism"
The attack on a bus with children from Belarus in the Bryansk region is not a mistake. The drone operator sees perfectly through the camera where the device is pointing, said military expert Boris Jerelievsky.
— This is pure terrorism. Imagine a suicide bomber: his goal is not to defeat the army, but to frighten ordinary people, make them afraid to leave home and be disappointed in the protection of the state. Only instead of the shahid belt, they are now using a drone," he told Izvestia.
According to the expert, Russia needs to create a "dead zone" of security along the border. Moreover, it is necessary to push the enemy back not by 10, but by 100 kilometers or more — to the maximum flight distance of their drones.
— The main task of such attacks on civilians is exclusively psychological and political pressure. The organizers are trying to intimidate the population, demonstrate their capabilities and sow panic. Their goal is to cause discontent among citizens by broadcasting a false thesis that the state is allegedly unable to ensure security. This attack did not pursue any tactical tasks like attempts to pull our air defense forces from the front line. This is a classic instrument of terror that they use regularly," military expert Viktor Litovkin told Izvestia.
The expert noted that the version of an accidental hit is completely excluded.
"Historical experience shows that there is only one way to protect our citizens from this threat — by completely dismantling and destroying the terrorist regime and its leaders," Viktor Litovkin clarified. — Remember the story: the Bandera underground operated on the territory of Ukraine from 1945 to 1956. And until they were finally eliminated or isolated, the attacks and terrorist attacks continued.
There is only one effective method against terror — its complete and uncompromising eradication, the expert noted. As long as the source of the threat exists, unfortunately, such tragedies can happen again.
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