The SBU has obtained a Russian document which refutes Ukraine’s involvement in the attack on the bus carrying Belarusians
The security service obtained this document during counter-intelligence operations, according to the press office.
It is an information report from the monitoring centre of the ‘Safe Region’ State Public Institution of the Bryansk Region. It states that at the time of the incident, there were no Ukrainian drones in the region’s airspace.
The absence of UAVs was confirmed by the regional operational headquarters, the radar battalion in the village of Suponevo, and the duty officer of the 32nd Division of the Russian armed forces. The SBU therefore suspects that the attack on the bus was a special operation carried out by the Russian security services.
The security service emphasised that Russia has previously accused Ukraine on numerous occasions of crimes committed by representatives of the Russian Federation. The Russian authorities use such incidents to carry out their own information and psychological special operations and to exert pressure on Ukraine on the international stage.
Drone attacks bus carrying children from Belarus in the Bryansk region: what is known
On 17 June, Russia and Belarus accused Ukraine of striking a coach carrying a children’s football team from Gomel, which was travelling to Gelendzhik for a holiday. A female chaperone was reportedly killed, and a further seven people were injured. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine refuted these claims, emphasising that during that period, the Ukrainian Defence Forces had not launched any drones over the Bryansk region.
It should be recalled that the ISW previously reported that Russia appeared to have used the attack on the coach carrying Belarusian children to narratively draw Belarus into its information operations. The aim is to justify large-scale strikes against Ukraine by portraying them as a response to alleged attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces against civilians.
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