A Russian official has alleged that two Ukrainian military helicopters flew across the border and bombed a fuel depot in the eastern city of Belgorod, in what would be, if confirmed, the first known air raid by Ukraine’s forces on Russian soil since Moscow invaded its neighbour in late February.
Video images of the purported attack posted online on Friday showed what looked like several missiles being fired from low altitude, followed by an explosion that sparked a huge fire. It was not possible to independently verify the images.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the alleged strike in Belgorod, some 35 kilometres (22 miles) from the border with Ukraine, did not create comfortable conditions to continue peace talks.
Ukraine’s top security official denied that Ukraine carried out the alleged attack.
Speaking on national television on Friday, April 1, 2022, Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said: “For some reason they say that we did it, but according to our information this does not correspond to reality.”
Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said: “I can neither confirm nor reject the claim that Ukraine was involved in this simply because I do not possess all the military information.”
#BREAKING: Video reportedly of Ukrainian attack helicopters striking oil facility in Belgorod, across the border inside Russia pic.twitter.com/NfQVJ97rbA
— ELINT News (@ELINTNews) April 1, 2022
Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram that the helicopters hit the storage facility after crossing into Russia at low altitude.
“There was a fire at the petrol depot because of an air strike carried out by two Ukrainian army helicopters, who entered Russian territory at a low altitude,” he wrote in the messaging app.
The resulting blaze injured two workers, Gladkov added, while some areas of the city were being evacuated.
Source: Aljazeera
