Russia Threatens Attacks on Kyiv as Retribution
Russia is threatening air strikes on Kyiv as retribution for what it claims is Ukraine's sabotage efforts and missile attacks on Russian territories.
"If cases of sabotage and shelling continue, Russian armed forces will strike the place where such decisions are being made," the statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense read. "Kyiv will be one of the targets, despite the fact that Russia has so far avoided bombing the capital."
This announcement comes after multiple reports of explosions and gunfire in Russia's towns that border Ukraine, which the Ukrainian government has blamed on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kyiv already has been attacked, with 208 residential buildings, 46 schools, and 17 hospitals damaged since the start of the war Feb. 24, according to statistics released by the Kyiv Regional Administration.
The threat, which claims Ukraine has bombed Russia, is believed to refer to a series of explosions in the town of Belgorod, which is 30 miles inside Russia.
An explosion set fire to a fuel depot in the village of Nikolskoye, just outside Belgorod, in the early morning of April 1. Russian news agency TASS blamed the explosion and fire on Ukraine, and Belgorod Gov. Viacheslav Gladkov also accused Ukraine in a subsequent statement.
"The explosion was caused by two Ukrainian helicopters that entered the Russian air space at low altitude," Gladkov said.
However, Ukraine's Conflict Intelligence Team said it analyzed multiple surveillance videos and determined a single rocket caused the explosion came from Russia.
"We were able to establish the exact location of where the dashcam footage was coming from. Turns out, the camera was facing the southeast. In the video, the rocket is coming from the left, that is, from the east or northeast, which means it came from Russian territory," their message read.
Russia's Kursk regional Gov. Roman Starovoit additionally claimed April 13 that a Russian border patrol was attacked "from Ukraine." He reported no injuries or casualties in the incident, which followed a similar charge he made April 9.
"No one got hurt, no damage was done. We fired back and the attack from Ukraine was squashed. We're in constant communication with Russia's armed forces and we ask our citizens to remain calm," he wrote.
Since then, three Russian regions that border Ukraine have been put on high alert for possible attacks.
Ukrainian officials have denied all claims made by Russia and issued a series of statements.
"Russians are planning explosions in Russian residential buildings and bombings to frame the Armed Forces of Ukraine to create the image of Ukraine's 'nationalist war crimes' for their media," read a statement from Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence.
