April 1 (Reuters) – Two Ukrainian military helicopters hit a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod on Friday, a Russian official said, making the first accusation of a Ukrainian air strike on Russian territory since Moscow invaded its neighbor. Video images of the alleged attack posted on the Internet showed many rockets being fired from low altitudes, followed by an explosion. Reuters has not yet been able to verify the images. The helicopters hit the Belgorod facility, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the border with Ukraine, after entering Russia at a low altitude, Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a Telegram message application. The resulting fire injured two workers, Gladkov added, while parts of the city were being evacuated. However, the Russian oil company Rosneft, which owns the fuel depot, said in a separate statement that no one was injured in the fire, although it did not provide information on the cause. Energy Minister Nikolai Sulginov said the incident would not affect the region’s fuel supplies or prices for consumers. The governor of the neighboring Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said that the fuel supplies were enough to last for several weeks and called on the population not to store fuel. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, the General Staff and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment. An ammunition depot near Belgorod caught fire on Wednesday, causing a series of explosions. At the time, Gladkov said authorities were waiting for the Russian Defense Ministry to reveal the cause. Moscow describes its intervention in Ukraine as a “special military operation.” (Report by Olzhas Auyezov · Edited by Bradley Perrett)
