DISINFO: Ukrainian drone strike kills child in Donbas
SUMMARY
A Ukrainian drone strike has killed a five-year-old boy in the settlement of Aleksandrovskiy in the Donbas.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative on the Donbas conflict.
The claim is unverified. The village of Oleksandrivske (Aleksandrovskoye in Russian media) is located 15 kilometers away from the front line. The Russian Investigative Committee announced a probe into the death of a child there reported by pro-Kremlin media. The OSCE's special monitoring mission to Ukraine did not report about any drone strike in this area.
A report by the DPR's so-called news agency, republished by pro-Kremlin media, did not provide any images of the aftermath of the attack allegedly carried out in the village of Oleksandrivske. The claim cannot be independently verified, notes AFP.
Furthermore, as Radio Svoboda notes, pro-Kremlin media outlets cannot seem to agree on the name of the village in which the attack allegedly took place. The present news item refers to the settlement as "Aleksandrovskiy," whereas previous reports rendered it as either "Aleksandrovka" or "Aleksandrovskoye."
So far, no witnesses to this alleged killing have come forward.
Contradictory accounts by local residents are available on social media, including one claiming the child was killed by an unexploded shell. At this stage, there is no hard evidence implicating a Ukrainian Army drone in the death of a child in the Donbas. For a more comprehensive overview of the operational details see here.
See here for further debunking by The Insider and StopFake.