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Russia accuses Ukraine of helicopter strikes on fuel depot in Russian territory
In an announcement, Russia’s Ministry of Protection stated that the helicopters “entered the airspace of the Russian Federation at extraordinarily low altitude,” at 5 a.m. Moscow time and “launched a missile assault on a civilian oil storage facility positioned on the outskirts of Belgorod.”
Because of this, “particular person tanks had been broken and caught fireplace,” spokesperson Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov stated, including that the depot “has nothing to do with Russian armed forces.”
CNN couldn’t confirm the Russian claims.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Protection has neither confirmed nor denied the assault. Russia has hit gasoline storage amenities round Ukraine in current days.
“I wish to emphasize that Ukraine is performing a defensive operation in opposition to Russian aggression on the territory of Ukraine,” Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, spokesman for Ukraine’s protection ministry, stated in a televised assertion Friday.
“That does not imply Ukraine must be chargeable for each miscalculation or occasion or disaster that occurred on the territory of the Russian Federation. This isn’t the primary time we’re witnessing such accusations. Subsequently, I’ll neither verify nor deny this data.”
CNN geolocated and verified social media movies displaying two helicopters flying over the Russian metropolis of Belgorod, close to the Ukrainian border, however can’t verify the helicopters are Ukrainian.
In a single video, they’re noticed throughout an assault on a gasoline storage facility. The video, which was shot at a distance of about 1,800 toes (550 meters) from the power, reveals a number of strikes and a subsequent fireplace within the distance.
The Belgorod area — which is on the street from Moscow to Ukraine’s second largest metropolis, Kharkiv — has been a hub of gasoline provides which have powered Russia’s invasion of of Ukraine.
The following fireplace “engulfed gasoline reservoirs” on the facility, Russian state media outlet TASS reported, citing the ministry of emergency conditions.
About 16,000 cubic meters (3.52 million gallons) of gasoline had been on fireplace, encompassing eight tanks with 2,000 cubic meters of gasoline every, Russian state media outlet Ria Novosti reported, citing emergency companies, and there was the chance that the fireplace may unfold to a different eight tanks.
Two staff of the depot had been injured within the fireplace however their lives weren’t at risk, Belgorod’s regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov stated on his Telegram channel earlier Friday. Residents within the neighborhood of the depot had been being evacuated however there was no menace to the inhabitants of the town, he added.
“The president was knowledgeable about Belgorod,” Peskov stated in a convention name with reporters. “You already know that the ministry of emergency conditions was despatched there. Steps are being taken to reorganize gasoline provide factors in order that what occurred in no case impacts the extent of provide of all vital sorts of gasoline.”
The Russian army has claimed air superiority over Ukraine.
“Air superiority throughout an operation is an absolute reality,” Peskov stated. “And as for what occurred, it in all probability shouldn’t be us giving out assessments, however our regulation enforcement companies.”
CNN’s Gianluca Mezzofiore, Katie Polglase and Celine Alkhaldi contributed to this report.