Ukraine's human rights commissioner contacts Belarus after allegations of an attack on bus carrying children

Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets has urgently contacted the Belarusian side following reports alleging there had been an attack on a bus carrying Belarusian children in Russia's Bryansk Oblast.

Source: Lubinets on social media

Details: Lubinets said he had received preliminary reports about the incident and stressed separately during the conversation that Ukraine had had no involvement in it.

Lubinets stressed that Ukraine's defence forces do not strike civilians or civilian facilities. Ukrainians target exclusively military objectives on the territory of the Russian Federation. Unlike Russia, which attacks Ukrainian cities and residential buildings on a daily basis and kills civilians, Ukraine acts in accordance with international humanitarian law.

He added that the incident could be another provocation or disinformation operation that primarily serves the interests of the Russian Federation.

Quote: "As the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, I am ready to join a transparent and impartial establishment of all facts and circumstances of this event."

Background:

• Yegor Kovalchuk, acting governor of Bryansk Oblast, claimed on 17 June that a Ukrainian drone had attacked a bus carrying a children's football team from Belarus. He said the team from Homiel was travelling to Russia's Gelendzhik for a holiday.
• The governor claimed that a Belarusian woman accompanying the team had been killed in the strike. Six other people were supposedly injured, including four children.
• Russia's Investigative Committee opened a criminal case over what it described as a terrorist attack. The Kremlin also characterised the incident as a terrorist attack. Belarus's Foreign Ministry said it regarded the strike as "an act of terrorism against civilians" and demanded "comprehensive explanations" from Kyiv.
• The Ukrainian side has officially denied the allegations of a "Ukrainian drone attack". The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that Ukraine's defence forces had not deployed UAVs against facilities in Russia's Bryansk Oblast during the period in question. "Unable to achieve its stated objectives on the battlefield and suffering significant losses, the Russian Federation is increasingly resorting to information manipulation and fabricating accusations against Ukraine," the General Staff said in its statement.

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