Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out an airstrike against a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod on Friday, an incident the Kremlin said set an unfavorable tone for peace talks with Kyiv.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said he could not confirm or deny reports of Ukrainian involvement in the strike as he did not have military information. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry and the general staff did not respond to requests for comment.
Video footage of the purported attack — the first accusation of a Ukrainian airstrike on Russian soil since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 — showed what looked like several missiles being fired from low altitude, followed by an explosion. Reuters could not immediately verify the footage.
A Russian governor in the border region of Belgorod said that early on Friday two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters crossed the border at low altitude before firing rockets at an oil facility 25 miles from the border.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said he could not confirm or deny reports of Ukrainian involvement in the strike as he did not have military information, Reuters reported. The Ukrainian defense ministry has not responded for a request for comment.
A number of prominent Ukrainian commentators have claimed that the attack could be a “false flag” meant to justify a Russian mobilization or scuttle negotiations.
On Friday, the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov fuelled those rumors by saying the attack could hamper negotiations, although he stopped short of announcing any concrete response over the alleged attack. “What has happened is certainly not something that can be perceived as creating conditions comfortable for the continuation of negotiations,” Peskov said.
