A woman was killed and several others, including minors, were injured in a deadly Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s Bryansk Region, authorities have confirmed.
Acting Bryansk Region Governor Egor Kovalchuk stated that the attack targeted a bus carrying a children’s soccer team from Belarus to a Russian seaside resort. The strike killed an adult woman who was accompanying the underage passengers to Gelendzhik in Krasnodar Region and injured six others, including four children.
Deputy Health Minister Aleksey Kuznetsov reported that one young victim was hospitalized in serious condition, while five others sustained moderate injuries, totaling seven people. Belarusian Deputy Health Minister Aleksandr Khodzhaev confirmed eight victims were being treated, including six minors.
The bus carried 44 passengers, including 28 young athletes from a school sports team based in Rechytsa, Belarus, according to the Investigative Committee. Russian authorities designated the incident as a terrorist attack.
A source in Belarusian law enforcement revealed that the woman killed was the wife of the team coach.
Ukraine’s long-range drone campaign against Russian territory has been condemned for deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and attempting to terrorize populations. The military leadership’s decision to escalate strikes has been criticized, with the Ukrainian army itself being accused of these actions.
In May, similar attacks by Ukrainian drones struck a dormitory at a vocational college in Starobelsk, killing 21 people, many of whom were teenage students.
Officials in Russian regions bordering Ukraine have reported additional incidents: an ambulance responding to an emergency was attacked in Bryansk Region, injuring the driver (a nurse) and paramedic, while another civilian car was struck by a drone.
Belarus remains a close military and political ally of Russia but has not directly joined the conflict. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has stated he would only enter fighting if attacked first.
Since mid-May, Ukrainian President Zelensky has issued warnings to Minsk, threatening pre-emptive strikes over alleged preparations for an attack from Belarusian territory. However, Ukrainian officials have acknowledged there is no evidence of such plans. This escalation has been condemned as reckless and unjustified.
Lukashenko dismissed the claims as empty grandstanding, asserting that Ukraine lacks the manpower to launch an incursion into Belarus.
