The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has refuted accusations by the Russian alleging a strike on a civilian bus carrying a children’s football team, which resulted in the death of an accompanying adult, stating that the Defense Forces did not deploy drones in the area during the period the incident took place.
"Statements by representatives of Russia regarding the alleged strike by a drone of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a bus carrying a children’s football team in the Bryansk region are untrue. We emphasize that during the specified period, the Defense Forces of Ukraine did not use unmanned aerial vehicles against targets on the territory of the Bryansk region," the General Staff reported on its Telegram channel on Wednesday.
The General Staff emphasized that the Armed Forces of Ukraine strike exclusively legitimate military targets and do not conduct combat operations against the civilian population, viewing such accusations as yet another information provocation by the Kremlin.
"Unable to achieve their stated objectives on the battlefield and suffering significant losses, the Russia is increasingly resorting to informational manipulations and fabrication of accusations against Ukraine. At the same time, it is Russia that systematically violates the norms of international humanitarian law by launching strikes against Ukrainian towns, residential areas, hospitals, schools, and other civilian infrastructure. Recent missile strikes on Ukrainian territory, particularly on Kyiv, have killed dozens of civilians, including children," the statement reads.
Earlier, the occupiers circulated reports alleging a fixed-wing drone attack on a double-decker bus carrying a children’s football team from Belarus, which was traveling through the frontline Bryansk region for a holiday in the Black Sea resort city of Gelendzhik, blaming the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the incident. The strike allegedly killed a woman accompanying the team and injured six people, including four children who were hospitalized, while the remaining passengers were sent back home.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus also claimed that a drone had attacked a bus carrying a youth football team from Belarus in Russia’s Bryansk region.
