A spokesman for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry declined to comment on the allegations. CNN could not verify the Russian allegations. “I would like to emphasize that Ukraine is conducting a defense operation against Russian aggression on Ukrainian territory,” Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, said in a televised statement on Friday. “This does not mean that Ukraine should be held responsible for any miscalculations or incidents or catastrophes that have occurred in the territory of the Russian Federation. This is not the first time we have witnessed such accusations. Therefore, I will neither confirm nor deny these allegations. information .” CNN geographically located and verified videos on social media showing two helicopters flying over the Russian city of Belgorod, near the Ukrainian border, but could not confirm that the helicopters were Ukrainian. In a video, they are detected during an attack on a fuel storage facility. The video, which was shot about 1,800 feet (550 meters) from the facility, shows multiple blows and a subsequent fire at a distance. The fire that followed “suffocated fuel tanks” at the facility, Russian state media TASS reported, citing the Ministry of Emergency Situations. About 16,000 cubic meters (3.52 million gallons) of fuel were burned, including eight tanks with 2,000 cubic meters of fuel each, Russian state media Ria Novosti reported, citing emergency services, and the fire could spread to another area. eight tanks. Two warehouse workers were injured in the blaze, but their lives were not in danger, Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov told the Telegram earlier on Friday. Residents near the warehouse were evacuated, but there was no danger to the city’s population, he added. Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed of the alleged strike, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov said on Friday, warning that the incident could hamper ongoing talks between Kiev and Moscow. “The president has been informed about Belgorod,” Peshkov told a news conference. “You know that the Ministry of Emergency Situations was sent there. Measures are being taken to reorganize the fuel supply points, so that what happened in no way affects the level of supply of all the necessary types of fuel.” The Russian army claimed air superiority over Ukraine. “Aviation superiority during an operation is an absolute fact,” Peshkov said. “And as for what happened, we should probably not give assessments, but the law enforcement agencies.” CNN’s Gianluca Mezzofiore, Katie Polglase and Celine Alkhaldi contributed to this report.
