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01st Apr 2022

Ukrainian helicopters attack oil facilities inside Russia as fire breaks out, Kremlin claims

Danny Jones

Is Ukraine going on the offensive?

Ukrainian helicopters have attacked an oil depot in the Russian city of Belgorod, according to claims from within the Kremlin.

As per a Telegram post by Russian governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, a fire broke out at a facility on Friday – just two days after the region was reportedly rocked by explosions at an arms depot.

Writing around 5:30am local time, Gladkov wrote: “There was a fire at the oil depot in the city of Belgorod. All emergency services were on the scene. Measures are being taken to eliminate it. Details about the causes and victims, if any, will be reported a little later.

Ukraine is yet to confirm the attack and analysts have cautioned to be aware of a ‘false flag’ attack, but footage of the blaze is already circulating on VK, around social media and other news outlets.

Two people are thought to have been hurt in the fire according to the oblast’s governor and three surrounding streets are said to have been evacuated. However, as per Reuters, Russian oil firm Rosneft – which owns the fuel depot – said in a separate statement that no injuries have occurred and could not clarify the cause of the fire.

Ukraine is yet to confirm or claim any responsibility for the incident and while the Kremlin is claiming helicopter attacks for this latest blaze, authorities are still yet to confirm this or the previous blast on Wednesday.

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