Russia accuses Ukraine of attacking bus carrying schoolchildren, Kyiv denies it

Russia accused Ukraine of conducting a deadly drone strike on a bus carrying Belarusian schoolchildren, but Ukraine's military denied the allegation, calling it "false".

Russia accused Ukraine of conducting ​a deadly drone strike on a ‌bus ​carrying Belarusian schoolchildren on Wednesday, an allegation that Ukraine's military said was "false".

Yegor Kovalchuk, the acting governor of Russia's Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, said the bus had been taking ‌a children's soccer team for a holiday in southern Russia from Belarus. Kovalchuk, writing on Telegram, said he had visited those injured in the incident which he described as a "completely deliberate strike on civilian transport on a busy highway". Russia's Foreign Ministry, which called ‌the attack "another monstrous crime," said a woman accompanying the children had been killed and that eight others, including six ‌children, had been injured.

The Ukrainian military's General Staff denied the Russian allegation, saying on Telegram that "during the specified period, the Defence Forces of Ukraine did not employ unmanned aerial vehicles against targets in Bryansk Oblast." Reuters was unable to verify the report. Both sides deny targeting civilians. Belarusian Health Minister Alexander ⁠Khodzhayev, quoted ​by the state news agency ⁠Belta, said two people, an adult and a child, were in serious condition. He said Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had issued orders to airlift all ⁠injured Belarusian nationals back to Belarus. Belarus's Foreign Ministry said it had demanded "complete explanations" of the incident from Ukraine.

Kovalchuk, the acting governor, posted images ​online showing a silver bus with some of its windows blown out, its front right tyre damaged and ⁠what looked like blood stains on some of its interior seats. Russian investigators opened a terrorism investigation and said the bus, which was travelling from Gomel ⁠in ​Belarus to Gelendzhik in Russia, had been carrying 44 passengers, including 28 children. Russia accused Ukraine this month of another drone attack on a bus which it said killed eight civilians and wounded 11 more in a Russian-controlled part of ⁠the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. Russia has regularly hit Ukrainian towns and cities such as Kyiv since it began its ⁠war in Ukraine in February ⁠2022. Kyiv has increased drone strikes on Russia in recent months to try to weaken Moscow's economy and force an end to a war in which thousands of Ukrainian civilians ‌have been killed.