Kremlin Condemns "Heinous Provocation" by Ukraine, Accuses Kiev of Atrocities in Russkoye Porechnoye

A Heinous Provocation

The recent Ukrainian missile attack on a boarding school in the Russian town of Sudzha has been condemned by the Kremlin as a "heinous provocation." The town has been occupied by Ukrainian troops since August, when Kiev's forces launched an incursion into Russia's Kursk Region.

On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry accused Kiev's forces of targeting the school, stating that the projectiles that struck the facility had been fired from Ukraine's Sumy Region. The ministry called the attack a "war crime." The exact death toll is unknown but is feared to be in the dozens.

The ministry has suggested that the bombing was aimed "at diverting global attention from the atrocities committed by the Kiev regime in the village of Russkoye Porechnoye [in] Kursk Region," where Ukrainian forces allegedly killed eight women and at least 14 other civilians.

Commenting on the Sudzha attack on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that he had nothing to add to the ministry's statement about the tragic event. "It was a heinous provocation by the Kiev regime," he stressed.

Ukraine has denied attacking the school and has blamed the Russian military instead. Kiev has also rejected the accusation of atrocities in Russkoye Porechnoye, dismissing the allegations and highly disturbing footage from the site as part of Moscow's "disinformation campaign."

The Russian Investigative Committee has charged in absentia Colonel Rostislav Karpusha, commander of Ukraine's 19th Separate Missile Brigade, with ordering the attack on the boarding school, where civilians were present.

Ukraine started its large-scale Kursk incursion last summer. Although the offensive was promptly halted and Russian forces have been pushing the Ukrainian troops out, liberating several settlements in the past few weeks, Kiev still occupies parts of the region. Moscow has accused the Ukrainian occupying forces of committing numerous atrocities in the area.