Ukraine denies it hit Russian oil storage facility

Ukraine denies it is behind a fiery explosion that rocked a Russian fuel depot near the border.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov says two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters had entered Russian airspace “at an extremely low altitude” and attacked the civilian oil storage facility on the outskirts of the city of Belgorod.

But Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s national security council, denies Ukraine is responsible.

“For some reason, they say that we did it, but in fact this does not correspond with reality,” he says on Ukrainian television.

Earlier, presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said: “We are carrying out defensive operations on our territory. Russian authorities bear responsibility for everything that happens on Russian territory.”

Russian authorities “must figure out what’s going on in Belgorod,” he said. “Maybe someone smoked in the wrong place. Maybe there was something else. Maybe Russian troops are sabotaging orders and don’t want to enter Ukrainian territory by available means.”