Video Believed to Show Ukraine Conducting First Airstrike in Russia

 

 

Ukrainian and Russian negotiators planned to resume talks via video on Friday, five weeks into a conflict that has left thousands dead and driven more than 4 million refugees from Ukraine.

 

 

The governor of the Russian border region of Belgorod accused Ukraine of flying helicopter gunships into Russian territory early Friday morning and targeting an oil depot, in what, if confirmed, would be the first attack of its kind.

 

Vyacheslav Gladkov said the airstrike set the facility ablaze and two people were injured.

 

Surveillance camera footage obtained by the Associated Press on Friday is said to show a missile hitting the fuel depot.

 

It was not immediately possible to verify the claim or images that were circulating on social media of the alleged attack. If confirmed, it would be the first attack of its kind by Ukrainian forces inside Russia.

 

The depot run by Russian energy giant Rosneft is located about 35 kilometres, or more than 21 miles north of the Ukraine-Russia border.

 

Russia has reported shelling from Ukraine before, including an incident last week that killed a military chaplain, but not an incursion of its airspace.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed about a fire at a fuel depot in Belgorod reportedly caused by a Ukrainian airstrike, the Kremlin said Friday. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily conference call with reporters that Russian authorities were taking measures to make sure fuel supplies in the region were not disrupted. Asked if the incident in Belgorod can be viewed as an escalation of the conflict, Peskov said it was not condusive to "creating comfortable conditions" for negotiations. Peskov also said there will be no immediate interruption in gas shipments over Moscow's decree for it to be paid for supplies in rubles, but added payments would be due later in the month.

INDIA

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated Friday the purpose of the military operation in Ukraine was to deprive Kyiv from presenting "any threat" to Russia. Lavrov told the media the United States and other NATO countries had created an "anti-Russia" Ukraine at a news conference in New Delhi following a meeting with India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

He said Russian forces were only targeting military infrastructure.

Lavrov praised India for judging "the situation in its entirety, not just in a one-sided way." He expressed the hope that mutual respect in search of a balance in ties will prevail in future.

India is seeking to maintain ties with both Moscow and Western nations.

On Thursday, U.S. State Department Ned Price said the U.S. expected India to use its leverage with Russia to end the violence in Ukraine.

 

Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces said on Friday that some Russian troops were seen retreating from the Kyiv region towards Belarus. Oleksandr Shputun said Russian soldiers were seen leaving in convoys of civilian cars, trucks and buses, captured from occupied territories. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russian withdrawals from the north and center of the country were just a military tactic to build up strength for new attacks in the southeast.