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.