Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters attacked oil storage facility in Russia

Europe, News April 3, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Ukrainian helicopters conducted airstrikes on Russian soil causing a huge explosion at an oil depot in Belgorod city.

The airstrike by the Ukrainian forces on Russian soil was the first since Russia begin its attack on Ukraine in late February.

According to the Kremlin statement, the Ukrainian airstrikes on Russia could affect the peace talks, however, Ukraine denied that it carried out any such attack on Russia. The details of the incident have not yet been independently confirmed.

An emergency source told Russia’s TASS news agency that “The airstrikes ignited a fire at a petroleum depot belonging to the Belgorodnefteprodukt company. Eight 2,000 cubic meter fuel tanks went up in flames. Local firefighting crews managed to extinguish the blazes engulfing half of them by 12:50 pm Moscow time, efforts to put out the fires continue.”

According to Tass, “Nearly 1,200 people were evacuated from homes adjacent to the fuel depot. The evacuees were brought to the Belgorod Arena stadium. Others decided to stay with their relatives.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said that two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters entered Russian airspace “at a very low altitude” and attacked the civilian oil depot at around 5 a.m. Moscow time. The oil storage facility was located on the outskirts of Belgorod city, which is 35 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

Konashenkov emphasized that the storage facility only supplied oil “to civilian transport” and it had nothing to do with the Russian Armed Forces.

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that President Vladimir Putin had been informed about the incident. Peskov stressed that the incident would certainly escalate the situation, adding, “Of course, this is not something that can be perceived as creating conditions comfortable for the continuation of negotiations.”

Video images of the attack on the Russian oil storage facility showed that several missiles were fired from low altitude, followed by an explosion that sparked a huge fire. However, no casualties have been reported so far.

^{Firefighters work at the site of fire at an oil depot in the Belgorod region, Russia. The governor of the Russian border region of Belgorod blamed Ukraine of flying helicopter gunships into Russian territory and striking an oil depot on April 1, 2022. (Image Credit: Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)}

Belgorod mayor’s office said in a statement that “More than 300 firefighters battled the blaze, using a helicopter and a special firefighting train.” Gladkov posted photos of craters and metal debris in a rural area where the explosions damaged a power line and shattered a window.

The attack came after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said last week that Ukraine’s air force and air defense network were “almost destroyed”, adding that “air superiority has been achieved.” Shoigu said that Russia had already achieved its main goal.

Ukraine’s National Security Council Secretary Oleksi Danilov denied that Ukraine was responsible. “For some reason, they say that we did it, but in fact, this does not correspond with reality,” he said on Ukrainian television.

However, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that he could neither confirm nor deny the claim because he did not have all the relevant military information.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said that “Ukraine is currently conducting a defensive operation against Russian aggression on the territory of Ukraine, and this does not mean that Ukraine is responsible for every catastrophe on Russia’s territory.”