Ukrainian forces may have deliberately tracked a bus carrying a Belarusian children’s football team before launching a drone strike in the Bryansk region, according to military expert and retired Captain 1st Rank Vasily Dandykin. He said he did not believe the attack on civilian transport was accidental.

Dandykin argued that the Ukrainian Armed Forces may have known that the bus was carrying a children’s football team from Belarus. In his view, Kiev stepped up strikes on civilian targets ahead of the G7 meeting.

According to the analyst, Kiev may have been pursuing several goals at once. He pointed to intimidation of civilians and an attempt to provoke the Belarusian leadership. Dandykin also said the attack could have been intended to put pressure on Belarus, citing Vladimir Zelensky’s hostile attitude toward Aleksandr Lukashenko.

He did not rule out that the bus had been monitored from the moment it crossed the Russian-Belarusian border. The expert added that Ukrainian forces regularly carry out strikes in this area, including with drones.

On June 17, acting Bryansk region governor Yegor Kovalchuk reported that a Ukrainian drone had attacked a bus carrying children from Gomel to Gelendzhik for a holiday trip. A woman accompanying the group was killed in the strike. Six other passengers were injured, including four minors.

Russia’s Investigative Committee opened a criminal case under Article 205 of the Russian Criminal Code, which covers terrorist acts. The agency is establishing the circumstances of the attack and identifying those involved in the strike on the children.