A fire burns at a fuel depot in Belgorod, Russia, after a Friday, April 1, 2022, rocket strike by what Russia claimed to be Ukrainian helicopters. Screenshot via LIGA.net/Facebook.
Did Ukrainian forces pull off a daring aerial strike deep in Russian territory, a strike that at least some analysts have compared to the United States’ Doolittle Raid in World War II?
Russian authorities say yes, reporting that a pre-dawn raid by two Ukrainian attack helicopters blew up a facility described as an oil depot approximately 20 miles inside Russia, creating a massive inferno that filled the skies of the local city with black smoke well into the next day.
While the blast occurred only slightly north of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, if true, this would be the first airstrike by Ukrainians on Russian soil.
But the Ukrainian military had a surprising reply to the Russian news: It wasn’t us.
Multiple videos began circulating on social media early Friday, April 1, seemingly showing two low-flying Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters firing rockets at a civilian oil storage facility in Belgorod at around 5 a.m. local time.
Although fake aerial combat footage has been rampant over the last month, at least three separate videos from different angles appear to have surfaced that chronicled the strike.
In the immortal words of Colonel Jimmy Doolittle “What now, Bitches?!!!” https://t.co/dIwuZnW4TP
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) April 1, 2022
#BREAKING: New video showing two Ukrainian likely Mi-24 Hind attack helicopters striking Belgorod city oil depot with air-ground rockets pic.twitter.com/yOBV07WBkY
— ELINT News (@ELINTNews) April 1, 2022
Another video of the air strike by two Ukrainian helicopters on the oil storage facility in Belgorod. https://t.co/JPQfyGYkX2 pic.twitter.com/SpgIrXhCSD
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) April 1, 2022
Initially, Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk would neither confirm nor deny that Ukraine was responsible for the attack, saying, “Ukraine is currently conducting a defensive operation against Russian aggression on the territory of Ukraine, and this does not mean that Ukraine is responsible for every catastrophe on Russia’s territory.”
Ukrainian Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov later went on TV and denied that Ukraine had attacked the depot.
“For some reason they say that we did it, but according to our information this does not correspond to reality,” Danilov said.
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, said that the attack “cannot be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for continuing” the peace talks in Istanbul.
According to the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry, eight fuel reservoirs were set ablaze, but at least three have been extinguished. There are no reported casualties or injuries, and only two employees were on site at the time of the explosion.
Despite the fact that Belgorod is a major logistical hub for Russia in the war, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told the BBC, “The oil storage facility has nothing to do with the Russian armed forces.”
Read Next: DISPATCH: Interview With a Ukrainian MiG-29 Pilot
Maggie BenZvi is a contributing editor for Coffee or Die. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago and a master’s degree in human rights from Columbia University, and has worked for the ACLU as well as the International Rescue Committee. She has also completed a summer journalism program at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. In addition to her work at Coffee or Die, she’s a stay-at-home mom and, notably, does not drink coffee. Got a tip? Get in touch!
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