Russia says Ukraine hit homes in cross-border attack, threatens retaliation
- Officials say 7 people were injured in a helicopter strike on residential buildings in Bryansk, while the governor of Belgorod says villages there were also hit
- Russia’s defence ministry warned that such incidents could provoke an attack on Kyiv
Russian officials on Thursday said Ukrainian helicopters had hit residential buildings and injured seven people in the Bryansk region, the latest of a series of cross-border attacks that Moscow has said may trigger a retaliatory attack on Kyiv.
The governor of the Belgorod region said villages there were also attacked and one person had been injured.
Ukraine’s defence ministry, which has declined to comment on several border incidents including a strike on a fuel depot in the city of Belgorod earlier this month, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
The Ukrainian government’s Centre for Countering Disinformation accused Russia’s intelligence services of implementing “a plan to carry out terrorist acts to whip up anti-Ukrainian hysteria” in Russia, according to a statement.
It mentioned two purported attacks in the western Russian city of Bryansk but nothing about an air strike.
“On April 14, 2022, using two combat helicopters equipped with heavy offensive weapons, military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine illegally entered the airspace of the Russian Federation,” Russia’s investigative committee said in a statement.