Ukraine hit Russian fuel depot in Belgorod city, says Moscow

On Friday, Russia accused Ukraine of attacking a gasoline storage in the Russian city of Belgorod, an incident that the Kremlin have claimed to have set a negative tone for peace negotiations with Kyiv.

 

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said that he couldn’t confirm or refute allegations that Ukraine was involved in the strike because he didn’t have military information. Requests for comment were not returned by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry or the General Staff.

 

 

The supposed incident, which was the first accusation of a Ukrainian air strike on Russian land since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, showed what appeared to be several low-altitude missiles being fired, followed by an explosion.

 

Two Ukrainian helicopters struck the plant in Belgorod, around 35 kilometres (22 miles) from the Ukrainian border, after entering Russia at low altitude, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.

 

Gladkov noted that the subsequent fire injured two workers and forced the evacuation of several parts of the city.

 

 

The storage depot’s owner, Russian oil company Rosneft, stated in a separate statement that no one was injured in the fire. The cause of the fire was not disclosed by the company.

 

At around 1020 GMT, another boom was heard in the city, according to a witness. The cause of the explosion remained unknown at the time.

 

Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, told reporters on a conference call that President Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the situation. The strike, according to Peskov, could jeopardise Moscow’s peace talks with Kyiv.

 

‘Of course, this cannot be construed as creating conducive to the continuation of the negotiations,’ Peskov said, adding that everything was being done to avoid gasoline supply problems in the city.

 

Separately, Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov stated that the incident would have no impact on regional fuel supplies or consumer prices.

 

Roman Starovoit, the governor of the neighbouring Kursk region, claimed that the territory’s own gasoline supplies were sufficient to last many weeks and urged residents not to stockpile fuel.

 

On Wednesday, a munitions dump in Belgorod caught fire, resulting in a sequence of explosions. Gladkov said at the time that officials were waiting for the Russian defence ministry to establish the reason of the incident.