Contact Us

Russian fuel depot catches fire in region bordering Ukraine

Reuters WORLD
Published October 15,2022
Subscribe
This handout photograph posted on October 14, 2022 on the Telegram account of the governor of Russia's Belgorod region shows flames which are to come from a power station in Belgorod following Ukrainian shelling on October 14, 2022. (AFP Photo)

A fuel depot in Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, caught fire after shelling on Saturday, its governor said, without specifying the origin of the shelling.

Russian border regions including Belgorod have accused Ukraine of attacking targets including power lines and fuel stores since Moscow sent its armed forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

"We have another shelling. One of the shells hit an oil depot in the Belgorod district. Emergency services are already battling the fire. There is no danger of [the fire] spreading," the governor of Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on social media, posting a picture of flames and black smoke rising into the air.

The local emergency service said one of 10 tanks with residual diesel fuel had been set alight, the TASS news agency reported. Gladkov said later that the fire had been put out.

On Thursday, Russian officials said Ukrainian shells had destroyed an ammunition depot and also hit a school, an apartment block and an electricity substation in the Belgorod region.

Gladkov said a customs checkpoint had also been shelled for several days in a row, and that 14 shells had landed there on Saturday, but caused no injuries.