The region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gadkov, reported that two Ukrainian helicopters had fired on a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod. He added that the attack caused a fire in the facility’s buildings. This is – as Reuters notes – the first time since the start of the war that Russia has accused Ukraine of attacking its territory. The Ukrainian side has not confirmed these reports so far. Near noon, information came about another explosion in the Belgorod region, this time in the village of Nikolskoye.
Recordings have appeared on the Internet showing the aforementioned attack, which will show the moment the missile was launched and the explosion. Reuters has not been able to verify its authenticity yet.
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“Ukrainian helicopters fired missiles after crossing the border with Russia,” the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gadkov, wrote in Telegram. The missiles were due to hit a fuel depot in Belgorod owned by the Russian oil company Rosneft. According to Guado, the attack caused a fire that killed two workers at the facility. The Russian governor added that some areas of the city, 40 kilometers north of the Ukrainian border, were evacuated.
Rosneft later issued a statement confirming a fire at the fuel storage facility, but did not say why. The company also announced that no one was injured in the accident, which contradicts the information provided by Gładków.
Later that day, the Ukrainian website Pravda reported that another explosion occurred in the Belgorod region of Russia. It was supposed to be about 12 noon in the village of Nikolskoye. No further details were given.
Kiba neither confirms nor denies
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said after the first morning reports that he could neither confirm nor deny Ukraine’s involvement in the attack on the Belgorod oil depot, because “he is not aware of all the military information.” Also Tuesday, citing Zhadkov, Ukrainian media reported that an explosion was supposed to have occurred in the village of Krasny Oktyabr near the city of Belgorod, injuring four Russian soldiers.
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