- Seven wounded in an attack in Bryansk – Russian officials
- The governor of the Belgorod region reports a second attack
- Russia has threatened revenge against Ukraine
April 14 (Reuters) – Russian authorities said on Thursday that Ukrainian helicopters had struck apartment buildings and injured seven people in the Bryansk region, the latest in a series of cross-border attacks that Moscow said could trigger a retaliatory attack on Kyiv.
The governor of the Belgorod region said that a village there was also attacked, but no one was injured.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which declined to comment on several border incidents, including a crash into a fuel depot in the city of Belgorod earlier this month, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on recent developments.
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The Ukrainian government’s Center for Countering Disinformation has issued a statement accusing Russia’s intelligence services of pursuing a “plan to carry out terrorist acts to incite anti-Ukrainian hysteria” in Russia.
The statement mentioned two alleged attacks in the western Russian city of Bryansk, but not the alleged air strike.
“On April 14, 2022, using two combat helicopters equipped with heavy offensive weapons, servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine illegally entered the airspace of the Russian Federation,” said a statement from the Investigative Committee of Russia.
“Moving at low altitude, they inflicted at least six air strikes on residential buildings in the village of Klimovo,” the statement said. Six buildings were damaged and seven were injured, the statement said.
A health ministry official said two people were seriously injured, RIA Novosti reported.
Bryansk regional authorities have closed schools for fear of new strikes, TASS reported.
The vehicles were damaged when a border post was shelled by mortars from Ukraine near Klimovo on Wednesday, state television was told by Russia’s security service.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that continued “sabotage and attacks” by Ukrainian forces could trigger strikes on Kyiv.
“If such incidents continue, then the armed forces of the Russian Federation will result in attacks on decision-making centers, including in Kyiv, which the Russian military has refrained from so far,” the defense ministry said.
Authorities in four Russian regions bordering Ukraine and in Russia-controlled Crimea have said they are stepping up security on Monday over what they say are “possible provocations” by Ukraine. Read more
Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the largest attack on a European country since 1945, has led to more than 4.6 million people fleeing abroad, killing or injuring thousands, and leaving Russia increasingly isolated on the world stage.
The Kremlin says it launched a “special military operation” in late February to demilitarize and “denationalize” Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies have dismissed this as a false pretext for an unprovoked attack.
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Report by Connor Humphreys Edited by Guy Falkonbridge and Mark Heinrich
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