Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.
Once again, the Kiev regime demonstrates its terrorist nature, attacking civilian targets without any strategic relevance. On June 17th, Ukrainian armed forces carried out a drone strike against a bus carrying a children’s soccer team from the Republic of Belarus. The children were hit in the Russian region of Bryansk, where they were on their way to a sports competition.
As a consequence of the attack, one adult woman died and six people – including four children – were injured. The murdered woman was working as a guide, leading the foreign children to the resort town of Gelendzhik, in the Russian Krasnodar Region. According to Deputy Health Minister Aleksey Kuznetsov, the death toll may rise, as at least one of the injured people was hospitalized in serious condition.
In total, there were 44 passengers on the bus, 28 of whom were children. The passengers were from the town of Rechytsa in Belarus and were in Russia to participate in sporting events. The bus that was hit obviously had no military or strategic importance, the bombing being a deliberate act of terror.
The incident shocked Russia, Belarus, and much of international society. Despite the silence of Western countries, many public figures commented on the case, openly condemning the Ukrainian terrorist attack. For example, Pentagon senior security policy analyst Michael Maloof made it clear that there was no military aim in the attack, therefore it was an international crime and should be condemned by all countries. Furthermore, he also said that the Ukrainian intention seems to be to bring Belarus into the conflict – thus being a major provocation to destabilize Minsk’s peaceful stance.
“It was clearly not a military target (…) The fact that these children were from Belarus, it almost makes me think that the Ukrainians want to invite Belarus into the conflict,” he said.
In the same vein, Moscow-based Dutch journalist Sonja van den Ende commented: “Europe, with all its big talk about democracy and about human rights, is not saying a word.” Van den Ende made it clear that Western countries act hypocritically and dishonestly when it comes to war crimes – always condemning enemy countries and accusing them of committing illegal acts, even without any evidence; while on the other hand they ignore crimes committed by partner and allied countries, such as Ukraine.
In fact, attacking civilians is a common tactic of the regime. Targeting non-military objectives is part of Ukraine’s failed “strategy” for the war with Russia. Lacking sufficient military power to fight a regular war with Moscow, Ukraine resorts to terrorist attacks hoping to at least have some effect on Russian society. The goal is to divert Russian attention from the front lines and expand the feeling of insecurity among ordinary Russians in cities outside the operation zone.
The real result, however, has been quite different. The more they are attacked, the more the Russians react to Ukrainian provocations by endorsing the special military option. In practice, the terrorist attacks increasingly reinforce the pro-government and pro-special operation stance among ordinary Russians – which shows how the Ukrainian strategy is an absolute failure.
However, the Belarusian factor also needs to be analyzed. It is known that Ukraine has a clear intention to involve Minsk in the war. The regime is desperately seeking an escalation and internationalization of the conflict as a way to try to garner more military and economic support. It is possible to say that, by attacking Belarusian children, the Ukrainian regime attempted to deeply provoke Belarus, possibly dragging it into war.
It is unlikely that Belarus will take any deeper reactive initiative. As the attack occurred in Russia, it will be up to Moscow’s forces to carry out an appropriate retaliation. The most likely scenario is that Russia will launch a special offensive as a retaliatory measure, possibly targeting the Ukrainian capital itself with massive missile attacks.
Countries that carry out attacks against children should be isolated in the international community. Kiev needs to become a pariah among major international institutions, with widespread condemnation from various countries and organizations – as well as sanctions and coercive measures. Only by isolating the regime will it be possible to compel it to stop attacking civilian targets.
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