Russia said that two Ukrainian helicopters bombed a petrol tank in the western Russian town of Belgorod, about 40 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. The Kremlin estimated that the attack will affect bilateral negotiations to end the offensive in Ukraine.
“It is clear that this cannot be regarded as something that will create the right conditions for the continuation of negotiations,” said Dmitri Peskov, spokesman for the Russian presidency.
The alleged attack was not denied or confirmed by Ukraine, and experts are analyzing whether it could be a “false flag” operation orchestrated by Moscow to put sticks in the wheel to the peace talks they are holding with the Kiev government.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he could not confirm or deny the information from Moscow. “I am a civilian,” he told the press in Warsaw.
This attack, the first of its kind by Ukrainian aviation if confirmed, takes place after Russia repeatedly asserted that it has full control of airspace in Ukraine where it carries out what it calls a “special military operation”.
As stated in his Telegram account the governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, “there was a fire in the oil depot due to a bombardment launched by two Ukrainian military helicopters, which entered Russian territory flying at low altitude”.
In another message, the governor indicated that firefighters were working to put out the fire and that two employees of the warehouse were injured. The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said on its side that 170 first responders were intervening on the scene.
The ministry released a video showing firefighters in thermal suits putting out the flames. He said he was warned of the fire at 05:51 (02:51 GMT) and confirmed the balance of two injured.
The energy giant Rosneft, which owns the warehouse, informed Russian agencies that it evacuated its personnel on the spot.
On the other hand, the director of a printing press near Belgorod, Konstantin Lajnov, assured that his company was hit by helicopter fire.
“Helicopters fired rockets at us (...) the windows are damaged, the equipment is destroyed or damaged (...) the roof is damaged,” he told state agency TASS.
(With information from AFP)
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