Ukraine Denies Attack on Bus with Children in Bryansk Region: 'It's an Information Provocation'

Ukraine categorically denies reports from the Russian side that Ukrainian military forces struck a bus carrying children in the Bryansk region. According to Kyiv, the incident is part of an information operation beneficial to Moscow.

This was stated by the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubyntsev. He noted that immediately after media reports of the attack on the vehicle appeared, he initiated contact with the Belarusian side to obtain initial data on the incident.

Official Position of Kyiv

During negotiations, the ombudsman emphasized: Ukraine has no connection to this event. The Armed Forces of Ukraine do not strike civilian objects or the peaceful population. On Russian territory, Ukrainian military forces strike exclusively military targets.

"Unlike Russia, which daily attacks Ukrainian cities, residential buildings, and kills civilians, Ukraine acts within the norms of international humanitarian law," the statement by Lubyntsev says.

According to him, it is not excluded that this is a provocation or an information operation that benefits primarily the Russian Federation. The ombudsman also declared his readiness to participate in a transparent and impartial investigation of all circumstances of the incident.

Chronology of Events

On June 17, the acting governor of the Bryansk region stated that Ukrainian military forces allegedly attacked a bus with children. According to him, as a result of the incident, a woman died, and children sustained injuries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus called the incident an "act of terrorism" and demanded official explanations from the Ukrainian side. However, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Center for Countering Disinformation refuted this information, noting that during the specified period, Ukrainian forces did not use unmanned aerial vehicles against targets in the Bryansk region at all.

Thus, Kyiv insists that reports of an attack on a bus with children are false and serve the goals of information warfare.