Ukrainian helicopters are alleged to have attacked a fuel storage facility in Russia as Kyiv’s forces continue their counterattack against President Putin’s invasion.
At least two people were injured as a depot near the Russian city of Belgorod was hit by missiles on Friday, local officials said, after the helicopters were seen flying low across the border. The Ukrainian defence ministry would not confirm or deny responsibility.
Sponsored
It would mark the first such airstrike on Russian soil during the war, although Ukraine has previously fired missiles and artillery shells over the frontier. Russia released video of the plant ablaze and said that the incident would not help peace talks, which continued remotely today.
In other developments: • A new attempt to send aid to Mariupol
Russian firefighters were battling a huge blaze at a fuel depot near the border with Ukraine on Friday after an explosion at the facility that the local governor blamed on the Ukrainian military.
Videos on social media showed two helicopters flying at low altitude before firing missiles at the depot in the city of Belgorod, causing a fire that sent clouds of smoke billowing into the sky. Ukraine did not immediately comment on the attack.
Viacheslav Gladkov, Belgorod’s governor, said in a statement on messaging app Telegram that the helicopters flew low into Russian territory to carry out the strike in the early morning. Two depot workers suffered non-life threatening injuries, Gladkov added.
The incident in Belgorod, which is 40km from the Ukrainian border, would be the first Ukrainian strike on Russian soil since Vladimir Putin invaded the country in February.
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Putin had been informed of the attack.
“Obviously this is not something you can say creates friendly conditions for holding negotiations,” Peskov told reporters, according to Russian news agency Interfax. He said Russia had “air dominance, that’s an absolute fact” and denied to comment further on the strike.
Russia’s emergencies ministry released footage showing firefighters working to extinguish the blaze at the depot, which is owned by Rosneft. The state-run oil company said it had evacuated its staff.
It came two days after an explosion at an ammunition depot in Belgorod, which is just over the border from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. No cause has been given for the explosion.
Russia has carried out several air strikes on fuel and food depots across Ukraine with cruise missiles, a tactic Kyiv said was aimed at forcing it to distribute its stock and ruin the planting season.
Russian and Ukrainian military claims cannot be independently verified.
Separately, Ukraine said Russian forces were seeking to form “occupation administrations” in Moscow-controlled parts of the country as president Volodymyr Zelensky warned of “powerful strikes” on the region.
The Ukrainian military said on Friday that Russia was trying to set up governance structures in the “temporarily occupied” districts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and parts of Zaporizhzhia.
The statement followed days of warnings that Moscow was preparing to intensify its attacks. Russia has increased the number of troops in the Donbas region while continuing its military assault in the south of the country. UK intelligence services said Russia was redeploying forces from Georgia to fight in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s military said: “In the temporarily occupied territories, the Russian enemy continues its illegal actions, restricting the movement of civilians, using the houses and apartments of local residents to accommodate personnel, and holding local residents and activists hostage. Marauding and violence against Ukrainian citizens continues.”
Zelensky also said he had stripped two generals of their military ranks. The Ukrainian president called the former internal security chief at the SBU, Ukraine’s intelligence service, and a general previously in charge of security for the SBU in the Kherson region, “traitors” and “anti-heroes”.
Ukrainian forces have prevented Russia from capturing any big cities, including Kyiv, where Moscow has pulled out some troops that were fighting near the capital. But the war is raging in the east and the south, where Russian forces are pounding the besieged port of Mariupol despite pledges that it would implement a ceasefire.
Moscow has said it was moving into the “final phase” of operations after “achieving all the main tasks” in northern Ukraine and would focus on the Donbas region in the east, where it has already taken over territory.
On Thursday, a US official said Russia had stepped up its air strikes, casting further doubt on Moscow’s claims that it was de-escalating and relocating forces in Ukraine. The strikes were concentrated around Kyiv, Chernihiv, Izyum, Mariupol and the Donbas. “For all this talk of de-escalation and moving away, Kyiv is very much under threat from air strikes,” the official said.
Vladimir Putin “massively misjudged” the invasion of Ukraine according to a British spy chief who said that Russian soldiers were refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment and had mistakenly shot down their own aircraft.
Jeremy Fleming, head of Britain’s signals intelligence agency GCHQ, said Putin had “overestimated the abilities of his military to secure a rapid victory” and that his advisers were “afraid to tell him the truth” about a campaign that was “beset by problems”.
“We’re now seeing Putin trying to follow through on his plan. But it is failing. And his plan-B has been more barbarity against civilians and cities,” Fleming said in a speech to the Australian National University. “We’ve seen Putin lie to his own people in an attempt to hide military incompetence.”
The British intelligence chief said that Russian soldiers who were rejecting orders and damaging their own equipment were “short of weapons and morale”, adding: “It increasingly looks like Putin has massively misjudged the situation.”
“It’s clear he misjudged the resistance of the Ukrainian people. He underestimated the strength of the coalition his actions would galvanise. He underplayed the economic consequences of the sanctions regime.”
American officials concurred that Putin aides were withholding information from the president. “We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions,” a US official said.
Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, said: “One of the Achilles heels of autocracies is that you don’t have people in those systems who speak truth to power or who have the ability to speak truth to power. And I think that is something that we’re seeing in Russia.”
Fleming said that mercenaries, including the Russia-backed Wagner Group, were sending more foreign personnel to the region. “These soldiers are likely to be used as cannon fodder to try to limit Russian military losses,” he said.
On China, the GCHQ head warned that Beijing’s global interests were “not well served” by siding with Moscow.
“We know both presidents Xi [Jinping] and Putin place great value on their personal relationships . . . but there are risks to them both, and more for China, in being too closely aligned.”
Beijing “wants to set . . . the norms for a new global governance”, he noted, yet Russia was a regime “that wilfully and illegally ignores them all”.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to the Australian parliament on Thursday and called for further military assistance, including Australian Bushmaster armoured vehicles, and even stricter sanctions against Russia.
He warned MPs that the Russian invasion represented a danger to Australia because of the threat of nuclear war and of other countries feeling emboldened to act in a similar way. “Unpunished evil comes back with a feeling of almightiness,” he said through a translator.
In a video address late on Wednesday, Zelensky warned that Russia was massing troops to launch new strikes in eastern Ukraine after Moscow said it had moved to “to fully liberate” the Donbas region.
Earlier this week Russia’s defence ministry said it was pulling out of big cities in Ukraine’s north and west, including the capital Kyiv and Chernihiv, in order to focus on the east of the country.
Igor Konashenkov, a spokesperson for Russia’s defence ministry, said on Wednesday that the military was moving into the “final phase” of its operations in eastern Ukraine in order to “complete the operation to fully liberate the Donbas”, the mostly Russian-speaking border region in eastern Ukraine.
Zelensky said: “We do not believe anyone — we do not trust any beautiful verbal constructions.”
Fresh efforts are under way to evacuate civilians trapped by Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said a convoy of 45 Ukrainian buses was on its way to the besieged southern city.
She said the International Committee of the Red Cross had confirmed that Russia had agreed to open a humanitarian corridor to Mariupol.
Tens of thousands of civilians remain there after weeks of bombardment.
Earlier, the Russian defence ministry said the United Nations refugee agency and the Red Cross would assist in the evacuation of civilians, which would begin at 10:00 local time (08:00 BST).
It said a ceasefire would allow people to travel westwards to Zaporizhzhia via the Russian-controlled port of Berdyansk.
Although some residents have escaped, all previous attempts to establish a ceasefire in Mariupol have collapsed amid accusations of bad faith from both sides.
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at HaveYourSay@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.
Russian attacks on Ukraine have intensified, despite a pledge from Moscow to pull back troops around Kyiv and Chernihiv.
Ukrainian forces are preparing for new attacks in the east as Vladimir Putin builds up troops there after suffering setbacks in the capital of Kyiv.
Speaking about the supposed withdrawal of Russian forces from Kyiv and Chernihiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: "We know that this is not a withdrawal but the consequences of being driven out.
"But we also are seeing that Russia is now concentrating its forces for new strikes on Donbas and we are preparing for this."
Advertisement
He has reacted with scepticism to the offer made by Russia during negotiations in Istanbul aimed at de-escalating the conflict, which is now entering its 36th day. Talks will resume tomorrow, 1 April, online.
The Ukrainian president also spoke with the US President Joe Biden today and told him America's support was "vital".
"I thanked the United States for a new $1bn humanitarian aid package and additional $500m in direct budget support. And I stressed that right now is a turning point," said Mr Zelenskyy.
Analysts have said Russia's promise to reduce fighting mostly covers areas where it was already losing ground.
Intelligence from one UK spy chief revealed demoralised Russian soldiers have accidentally shot down their own aircraft, while Mr Putin's own advisors are too afraid to tell him the truth of the situation in Ukraine.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:44
'No sign of Russia scaling back attacks'
Shelling around Kyiv
Shelling has continued in areas around Kyiv, but the city itself has not been bombarded, Ukrainian officials have said.
Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said Russia was withdrawing some troops around Kyiv but transferring forces from the north of Ukraine to the east in an attempt to encircle the country's forces.
The mayor of Chernihiv said attacks on the city had intensified in the past 24 hours, with more than 100,000 people trapped and supplies only set to last about a week.
The Chernihiv region's governor, Viacheslav Chaus, said he saw no let-up overnight.
Referring to the Kremlin's pledge from Tuesday's peace talks, he said: "Do we believe in it? Of course not.
"The 'decreased activity' in the Chernihiv region was demonstrated by the enemy carrying out strikes on Nizhyn, including airstrikes, and all night long they hit Chernihiv."
Image:Outside Izyum, a sign reads: 'Russian soldier, you've been sent to hell'
Ukrainian forces still have control of Mariupol city centre - UK's MoD
The continued attacks around Chernihiv were confirmed by British intelligence.
"Despite Russian statements indicating an intended reduction of military activity around Chernihiv, significant Russian shelling and missile strikes have continued," said the UK's Ministry of Defence in its latest update.
"Russian forces continue to hold positions to the east and west of Kyiv despite the withdrawal of a limited number of units. Heavy fighting will likely take place in the suburbs of the city in coming days."
It added that the bombardment of the southeastern city of Mariupol also continues, a key objective of Russian forces. However, Ukrainian forces remain in control of the centre of the city.
Russian forces have taken half of the strategic port, according to one official. But Russia's defence ministry has said it was prepared to observe a cease-fire in Mariupol on Thursday.
Nearly 5,000 people have been killed in the city, the mayor's office estimates, with a further 170,000 trapped amid the ruins without food, water or power.
A convoy of Ukrainian buses is on its way there, according to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, who said the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed Russia has agreed to open a humanitarian corridor to the besieged city.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
3:47
Troops in Izyum confident of victory
Fears Russia could cut off gas supplies
Meanwhile, Germany and Austria have moved a step closer to gas rationing after activating an emergency plan designed to help them cope with any disruption in supplies from Russia.
It comes as Russia demanded oil and gas payments to be made in roubles by Friday, raising fears of energy shortages and increasing the risk of a recession in Europe.
While Western sanctions have largely isolated the Russian economy from world trade, Moscow is still the biggest supplier of gas and oil to Europe and is attempting to leverage this power.
Floating a potential compromise, Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that payments could be made in euros and sent to Gazprombank, which would convert the money to roubles, a German government spokesperson said.
The US has continued to express doubt that Russia was curtailing its military ambitions in Ukraine despite new Kremlin claims that it was wrapping up operations around Kyiv and had made progress in peace talks with Ukrainian negotiators.
Russia’s defence ministry on Wednesday insisted it was withdrawing from population centres in Ukraine’s north and west, including Kyiv. Igor Konashenkov, the ministry’s spokesperson, said Russia was conducting a “planned rotation” out of Kyiv and Chernihiv, a city further north, after “achieving all the main tasks” in that part of the country.
Russia’s latest claims came as US officials said there was mounting evidence that Russian president Vladimir Putin felt “misled” by his military commanders about how the war in Ukraine was playing out.
Declassified intelligence showed Putin had been unaware the Russian military was using conscripts in Ukraine, a sign there was a “clear breakdown” in the flow of accurate information to the Kremlin, one US official said.
“We would concur with the conclusion that Mr Putin has not been fully informed by his ministry of defence at every turn over the last month,” said John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, on Wednesday.
Putin initially denied conscripts were fighting in Ukraine — only for his own defence ministry to admit a day later that they were. Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, then told reporters the president ordered Russia’s military prosecutors to find and punish officials responsible for conscripts being deployed, supposedly in contravention of his orders.
“We believe that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions, because his senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth,” the US official said.
Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, said: “One of the Achilles heels of autocracies is that you don’t have people in those systems who speak truth to power or who have the ability to speak truth to power. And I think that is something that we’re seeing in Russia.”
Konashenkov also said the Russian military was moving into the “final phase” of its operations in eastern Ukraine, a move intended to “complete the operation to fully liberate the Donbas”, the mostly Russian-speaking border region in eastern Ukraine.
Russia’s military TV channel Zvezda also reported a Russian ceasefire in the heavily bombarded southern city of Mariupol starting at 10am local time on Thursday. Humanitarian corridors would be opened allowing residents to evacuate into Ukrainian territory, the report claimed.
Kirby, the Pentagon spokesperson, said the US believed Russia was repositioning just a “small percentage”, about 20 per cent, of the forces it had amassed around Kyiv.
He added that while those troops were moving away from Kyiv, and some have entered neighbouring Belarus, none were heading back to their home bases — a signal that Russia may not be committed to a sustained withdrawal.
“If the Russians are serious about de-escalating . . . then they should send them home,” Kirby said.
In addition, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces were continuing to bombard neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Kyiv and Chernihiv, despite claims military operations there were wrapping up.
“Kyiv is still very much under threat,” Kirby said.
The Russian defence ministry’s claims were the latest in a series of declarations by Moscow signalling that Putin had scaled back his ambitions in Ukraine after a more than month-long invasion that has been stymied by fierce Ukrainian opposition.
Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, said negotiators had made “substantial progress” in recent peace talks with Ukraine, but Kyiv cast doubt on the assertion, saying the Kremlin was still insisting on unacceptable Ukrainian territorial claims.
Lavrov told Russian state media that he saw “positive movement forward” during peace talks that began in Istanbul on Tuesday, though they were “not yet the final result”.
He said Ukraine’s negotiators “confirmed the necessity to ensure Ukraine’s non-nuclear, [neutral] status and its security outside of Nato” and “understand that the issues of Crimea and Donbas have been settled for good”.
But Oleg Nikolenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, said Kyiv was only willing to discuss the final status of Crimea and Donbas — southern and eastern Ukrainian regions where Russia has annexed territory — once Kyiv “restores its sovereignty over them”.
US officials said Putin’s lack of access to accurate information could affect the negotiations.
Kirby said: “If he’s not fully informed of how poorly he’s doing, then how are his negotiators going to come up with an agreement that is enduring and certainly one that respects Ukrainian sovereignty?”
Ukrainian officials acknowledged that Russian negotiators had changed their tone during the Istanbul peace talks. Mykhailo Podolyak, a top adviser to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the initial “ultimatums” issued by the Kremlin had been “quietly set aside” and the talks were now focused on “a clearly-defined specific” list of issues.
Podolyak said Kyiv was still seeking concrete security guarantees that could be enforced by “defined guarantor countries” with “powerful armies”, which would include the US and a handful of western allies.
“Pragmatically, we need to have allies who will stand by us when we need help here and now,” he said.
Nasser Hussain on his involvement in Wednesday's state funeral: "It's an honour they've asked me to go on stage to talk about him. For me, he's absolutely the best cricketer I've ever seen and a great friend over the past decade."
Last Updated: 30/03/22 6:36am
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Nasser Hussain says he's hugely honoured to be a part of Shane Warne's memorial service at the MCG on Wednesday.
Nasser Hussain says he's hugely honoured to be a part of Shane Warne's memorial service at the MCG on Wednesday.
Stars of sport and showbiz, along with over 50,000 spectators, will attend the MCG on Wednesday to pay tribute to legendary cricketer Shane Warne at his state memorial.
Warne died at the age of 52 on March 4 after a suspected heart attack while in Koh Samui, Thailand, with the results of an autopsy revealing the death was due to natural causes.
Musicians Elton John, Ed Sheeran and Chris Martin are sending video contributions for the state funeral, while former England captain Nasser Hussain has travelled to Melbourne to join the likes of West Indies legend Brian Lara and former Pakistan bowler Wasim Akram in paying their respects in person.
"It was only a month or so ago we were chatting to him on The Cricket Show and he was his usual larger than life self," Hussain said. "He was so happy, so professional and was chatting with Rob Key and I and we were having a laugh. It's amazing how life gets you really.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Cricket Legend Shane Warne will be laid to rest on Wednesday, with over 50,000 people expected to attend his funeral at the MCG cricket ground.
Cricket Legend Shane Warne will be laid to rest on Wednesday, with over 50,000 people expected to attend his funeral at the MCG cricket ground.
"I'm working on the Women's World Cup in New Zealand and I thought I would regret it if I didn't make the three-hour trip over to be here for arguably the greatest cricketer, a friend, and a friend of Sky Sports.
"Some of our team can't be here. Ian Ward was so close to Warney, Rob Key was so close to Warney, as were Bumble, Ath [Michael Atherton], Mikey [Michael Holding]. I just feel honoured that I'm here.
Live Shane Warne State Memorial Service
March 30, 2022, 8:00am
Live on
"It's an honour they've asked me to go on a stage to talk about him. For me, he's absolutely the best cricketer I've ever seen and a great friend over the past decade."
'People used to sit up and watch Warne'
Warne is the second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket history with 708 wickets in 145 Test matches for Australia, with Hussain believing the leg-spinner will always be regarded as a legend of the sport.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Shane Warne's three children led a private funeral service for the Australian cricket legend in Melbourne on Sunday morning.
Shane Warne's three children led a private funeral service for the Australian cricket legend in Melbourne on Sunday morning.
"What a character, what a cricketer and arguably - for me - the greatest cricketer who has ever played the game," Hussain added. "He worked with us at Sky Sports in the cricket department and we were constantly reminding him of how good he was.
"Some people have genius, the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Brian Lara. Some people can get the best of themselves and be hugely competitive, then some people can think their way through a spell or innings. Shane Warne could do all three things and was so competitive.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Australian opener David Warner pays tribute to the spinning legend Shane Warne, saying he was a cricketer who was loved around the world.
Australian opener David Warner pays tribute to the spinning legend Shane Warne, saying he was a cricketer who was loved around the world.
"In the 2005 Ashes, when Australia were losing the plot against Michael Vaughan's England, who was the man getting runs and getting wickets? It was Warne. In 2006, when England got 550 in Adelaide under Andrew Flintoff's captaincy, who was the man bowling England out on the last day to win that Test? It was Warne.
"Warne just ticked every box and he was just an outstanding cricketer. The other thing is cricket is entertainment, and he was such an entertaining cricketer. People used to sit up and watch when Shane Warne was bowling."
Sky Sports will be showing live coverage from the State Memorial Service, featuring a host of tributes from stars of sport and showbiz. Watch live on Wednesday from 8am on Sky Sports News and Sky Sports World Cup.
