Russian officials have accused Ukraine of helicopters crossing its border and striking an oil depot as the two nations prepare to meet for another round of peace negotiations.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region claimed the alleged airstrike caused fires that included two people being injured.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the report could harm the latest peace negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian representatives that restarted via video discussions on Friday.
“Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied, according to the Associated Press.
The Associated Press was unable to confirm the source of the oil strike. A large fire at the oil depot was reported by multiple outlets covering the event. If confirmed as Ukrainian, it could mark the first time a Ukrainian force has struck a target inside of Russia’s borders.
An oil depot is on fire in #Belgorod, #Russia.
"The emergency services went to the place of fire, measures are being taken to eliminate it", said Gladkov, the governor of the region in his Telegram channel. pic.twitter.com/ey7rC5ChSz
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 1, 2022
“The city of 370,000 lies just north of Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, which has been heavily shelled by Russian artillery and remains surrounded by Russian forces,” the BBC reported.
“Governor Gladkov said in a Telegram message ‘there was a fire at the oil depot because of an air strike carried out by two Ukrainian army helicopters, which entered Russian territory at low altitude’. ‘Nobody was killed,'” the report added.
Attempts to confirm Ukraine’s involvement have been inconclusive.
“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,” according to Reuters.
The report also comes following news on Tuesday that the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that it was going to “radically” reduce troop presence near Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv and its northern city, Chernihiv, as a way to help peace talks move forward.
The Pentagon soon shared its skepticism concerning the report. The Daily Wire previously reported:
“There’s been a lot of reporting today on withdraws and, you know Russian decisions, and I think it’s really important that we put a little bit of into context,” Department of Defense Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters.
“Nobody should be fooling ourselves, by the Kremlin’s now-recent claim that it will suddenly just reduce military attacks near Kyiv, or any reports that it’s gonna withdraw all its forces,” Kirby added.
“We all should be prepared to watch for a major offensive against other areas of Ukraine,” he added.
Kirby also said, “The rapid advance to Kyiv in the initial days of the war showed very clearly for all of us that Kyiv and the capital city was a key objective for the Russians.”