Moscow Accuses Ukraine of Attacking Oil Depot Inside Russia

Russia on Friday accused Ukraine of carrying out air strikes against an oil depot inside Russian territory, CBS News reports.

Russia said that two Ukrainian helicopters attacked the fuel facility in Belgorod, which is about 20 miles beyond the Ukraine-Russia border.

Ukrainian officials did not claim responsibility for the strike but a US official told CBS News that Ukraine did in fact carry out the attack as well as another one two days earlier against an ammunition depot in the same area.

It’s unclear why Ukraine has launched multiple strikes into Russian territory.

The Russian government suggested that the strikes could upend peace talks between the two countries.

“What has happened is certainly not something that can be perceived as creating conditions comfortable for the continuation of negotiations,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Russia withdraws from Chernobyl:

Russian troops have been pulling back from the areas around Kyiv and northern Ukraine, including the Chernobyl power plant.

Ukrainian officials said Thursday that Russian troops have left the plant after a month-long siege but some remain in the exclusion zone.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned that Russian troops had stirred up some localized radiation and that he was aware of reports that some troops had suffered radiation poisoning.

“The general situation around the plant is quite normal,” he said. “There was a relatively higher level of localized radiation because of the heavy vehicles at the time of the occupation of the plant and apparently this might have been the case again on the way out.”

“We heard about the possibility of some personnel being contaminated but we do not have any confirmation,” he added.

Mariupol evacuations begin:

Russia also agreed to a humanitarian cease-fire in Mariupol to allow about 100,000 people trapped in the heavily bombarded city to evacuate.

The Red Cross sent a convoy to help bring people to safety though it’s unclear how successful the operation has been thus far.

Russia has repeatedly violated cease-fire terms and fired on evacuation routes, according to Ukrainian officials.

 

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