BRYANSK, June 17. /TASS/. The Ukrainian armed forces used a fixed-wing drone to attack a bus in the Bryansk Region with a children’s football team from Gomel that was traveling to Gelendzhik for a vacation, Acting Governor Yegor Kovalchuk reported on his Max channel.
According to the latest reports, a woman accompanying the team was killed. Seven people, including five children, were hospitalized.
TASS has compiled the key information known about the incident.
Circumstances of incident
- The Ukrainian armed forces used a fixed-wing drone to attack a bus with a children’s football team from Gomel in the Bryansk Region, Kovalchuk said.
- According to him, the children were traveling to Gelendzhik for a vacation.
- There were 44 passengers on the bus that was attacked, including 28 child football players, Russian Investigative Committee Spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko later reported.
- She clarified that, according to the investigation, Ukrainian servicemen attacked a highway in the Bryansk Region on June 17, using a strike drone to strike bus belonging to a children’s and youth sports school based in the city of Rechitsa.
- The vehicle was traveling from Belarus along the Gomel-Gelendzhik route.
Fatalities and injuries
- A woman accompanying the team was killed in the strike, Kovalchuk said.
- According to him, six people were injured, including four children.
- The injured were taken to the hospital, where they are receiving medical assistance.
- According to Kovalchuk, the remaining passengers will be returned home shortly.
- Later, the Russian Health Ministry clarified that seven injured people had been hospitalized, including five children.
- According to the ministry, one of the injured is in serious condition while the rest are in stable condition.
Reaction and investigation
- The Belarusian Foreign Ministry told TASS that diplomats are verifying information about the Ukrainian drone attack on a bus with a children’s football team from Gomel.
- The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case under Article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code (terrorist act).
- The Bryansk Regional Prosecutor’s Office is monitoring compliance with the rights of those affected by the Ukrainian attack.
- The Ukrainian armed forces’ attack on a bus with a children’s football team from Belarus is yet another terrorist act by Kiev, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS.
- The Kiev regime is targeting civilians, especially children, the diplomat noted.
- Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said she would contact her colleagues in Belarus and monitor the situation.