Ukraine forces have been accused of dealing a blow to Moscow’s war plans by blowing up a key fuel depot just inside Russia.
The daring dawn raid, apparently by two Ukrainian Mi-24 attack helicopters, is said to have sent a fireball shooting from the Belgorod complex, which was obliterated.
Tonight there was also speculation it might have been a “false flag” or self-inflicted assault by Russia to excuse a major escalation in its war-crimes riddled invasion.
It is possible Russia launched the attack themselves as they have the same helicopters and it was perhaps an attempt to scupper peace talks with Ukraine.
Ukraine’s foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba refused to confirm or deny whether it was a suspected Russian “false flag attack” or a successful Ukrainian military operation.
There were also reports that two 25 pound unguided rockets smashed into the depot, setting off a blaze that was still burning throughout the morning.
If it was a Ukrainian attack it is believed to be only the second time Ukraine has launched an attack inside Russia during the 37 day-long invasion by The Kremlin’s forces.
Belgorod is just 25 miles north of the border with Ukraine and is 50 miles from Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv, which has been battered by war.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said: “The fire at the oil depot occurred as a result of an airstrike from two helicopters of the armed forces of Ukraine which entered the territory of Russia at low altitude.
“There are no victims.”
Previously it has been reported that Ukrainian troops hit another depot in Belgorod with Tochka ballistic missiles in a desperate bid to slow down the Russian military’s fuel supply chain.
It has also been revealed that as many as 300 Syrian Army soldiers, recruited by Putin’s military to join the invasion effort, have arrived in Ukraine.
They have fought alongside Kremlin troops in Syria, battling Islamic State, al-Qaeda factions and other terrorist organisation.
They have been brought in as the spearhead force from President Assad’s troops and will be joined by hundreds more within days, sources said.
In addition as many as 1,000 members of President Putin’s private military company The Wagner Group, a killer band of mercenaries, are also believed to be in Ukraine.
Wagner fighters are believed to fighting in contested Donbas, in the east of Ukraine.
On Friday there were reports Ukrainian troops were ambushing many Russian troops as they retreated towards Belarus from their positions north of Kyiv.
And Ukraine accused Russian forces of using children as human shields in villages near Chernihiv.
Sources said they used children as hostages to avoid locals being able to give their coordinates to Ukraine’s artillery teams.
And a BBC team discovered 13 dead bodies on a stretch of road outside Kyiv, many of them civilians and possibly victims of more Russian brutality.
As many as 17,500 Russian troops have been killed in brutal fighting in Ukraine, but the impact on civilians has been horrific, with thousands dead.
During the day a Russian missile attack on a civic building in Mykolayiv killed 28 civilians, with the death toll expected to rise.
As many as 153 children in Ukraine have been killed during the invasion, which is now in its sixth week, and 245 have been injured.
Overnight air raid sirens blared throughout Ukraine and loud explosions went off in the capital Kyiv.
It is thought some Russian troops have withdrawn from the northern outskirts of Kyiv and headed towards Belarus.
But air-sorties on Kyiv and Chernihiv have increased since Russia said it would back off from the two cities as part of peace talks in Turkey.
