Ukraine accused of sending helicopters to strike fuel depot in Russia's Belgorod
CBC
Two Ukrainian military helicopters fired on and hit a fuel storage facility in the Russian city of Belgorod on Friday after crossing the border at low altitude, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
The resulting blaze injured two workers, Gladkov said, while some areas in the city, located close to Ukraine's northern border with Russia, were being evacuated.
It was not immediately possible to verify the claim or images that were circulating of the alleged attack. If confirmed, it would be Ukraine's first known incursion into Russian airspace since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine Feb. 24.
Ukraine's Defence Ministry has not commented on the allegation, and Russian oil firm Rosneft, which owns the depot, reported the fire without identifying the cause.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kulebawas was asked by reporters on Friday about Belgorod and said he could "neither confirm nor reject" the claim that Ukraine was involved because he did not have enough information.
A Kremlin spokesperson said the incident on Russia's territory could undermine negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian representatives that resumed by video link Friday.
"Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov replied when asked if the depot fire could be viewed as an escalation of the war in Ukraine.
The negotiations between Ukraine and Russia on Friday follow a meeting of Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Turkey on Tuesday where Ukraine reiterated its willingness to abandon a bid to join NATO and offered proposals to have its neutral military status guaranteed by a range of foreign countries.
The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, wrote on social media that Moscow's positions on retaining control of the Crimean Peninsula and expanding the territory in Eastern Ukraine held by Russia-backed separatists "are unchanged."
Russian President Vladimir Putin said conditions weren't yet "ripe" for a ceasefire and he wasn't ready for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky until the negotiators do more work, Italian Premier Mario Draghi said after a Thursday telephone conversation with the Russian leader.
The International Committee for the Red Cross said complex logistics were still being worked out for the operation to get emergency aid into Mariupol and civilians out of the city, which has suffered weeks of heavy fighting with dwindling water, food and medical supplies.
"We are running out of adjectives to describe the horrors that residents in Mariupol have suffered," ICRC spokesperson Ewan Watson said Friday during a UN briefing in Geneva. "The situation is horrendous and deteriorating, and it's now a humanitarian imperative that people be allowed to leave and aid supplies be allowed in."
He said the group had sent three vehicles toward Mariupol and a front line between Ukrainian and Russian forces but two trucks carrying supplies for the city were not accompanying them. Dozens of buses organized by Ukrainian authorities to take people out also had not started approaching the dividing line, Watson said.
On Thursday, Russian forces blocked a 45-bus convoy attempting to evacuate people from Mariupol after the Russian military agreed to a limited ceasefire in the area, and only 631 people were able to leave in private cars, the Ukrainian government said.
