Ukrainian attack helicopters swept the Russian air defenses to carry out the attack on the Belgorod facility. The governor of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, confirmed the attack, writing on social media that two Ukrainian helicopters carried out the operation while flying at low altitude. Belgorod is located near the Ukrainian border with Russia and north of Kharviv, Ukraine’s second largest city. Security camera footage released by Russia’s state-run media channel RIA Novosti showed several rockets being fired at the depot and detonating explosions. The strike is the first known attack by Ukrainian forces on Russian soil since the early days of the war, when Ukraine struck an airport in Rostov-on-Don. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov said on Friday that the attack on Belgorod was not conducive to creating conditions for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. In recent days, Ukrainian forces have recaptured territories occupied by Russian troops in the early days of the war, which began on February 24. Moscow has said it is refocusing its war effort on eastern Ukraine. The Belgorod raid was the second Kiev helicopter operation in so many days, following an attempt by Russian air defenses to penetrate the besieged city of Mariupol, along the coast of the Sea of Azov in Ukraine. Ukraine has dropped two Mi-8 transport helicopters on an Azov evacuation mission that has allowed the city to remain under Ukrainian control despite almost constant Russian civilian bombing. The operation comes as the Ukrainian Defense Ministry says Russian forces are withdrawing from areas north of Kiev to the border with Belarus, partly by civilian vehicles.
