https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/04/27/world/ukraine-russia-war-news/explosions-are-reported-in-three-russian-regions-bordering-ukraine?smid=url-copy
Explosions are reported in three Russian regions bordering Ukraine.
Local officials in Russian districts bordering Ukraine reported overnight blasts early Wednesday, one of them appearing to strike an ammunition depot, raising the specter of broader conflict spilling beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Explosions were reported in Belgorod, Russia, less than 20 miles from the border with Ukraine, as well as in Kursk and Voronezh, deeper into Russian territory, according to local officials and the state-run press agency Tass. In Belgorod, an ammunition depot was on fire but no homes had been hit and there were no civilian casualties, the regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on his Telegram channel.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosions. In Kursk, less than 100 miles from the border and Voronezh, nearly 200 miles from Ukraine, air defense systems had reportedly been activated.
Ukraine’s defense ministry has generally declined to discuss reports of attacks on Russian soil. Ukrainian officials have, for example, declined to comment on Russia’s claim that two Ukrainian helicopters fired on an oil depot in Belgorod in early April. In two months of war, the fighting has largely been contained within Ukraine’s borders.
The blasts come after explosions and fires were reported in recent days in Russian regions near Ukraine’s northeastern border as well as in Transnistria, a Moscow-backed separatist sliver of Moldova, to Ukraine’s southwest.
On Monday, fires engulfed oil depots in Bryansk, Russia, a key logistical hub for Russia’s military, destroying one tank at a civilian oil storage facility and another at a military oil depot.
Explosions have also rocked Transnistria, a self-declared republic where Russian soldiers are stationed, on both Monday and Tuesday. It was unclear who was behind the attacks, with local authorities blaming Ukraine and Ukrainians calling it a “planned provocation” by Russian troops to set up a pretext to invade from the southwest.
On Tuesday, James Heappey, a British junior defense minister, said in a radio interview Ukraine would be justified in attacking targets inside Russia to defend itself.
“It’s completely legitimate for Ukraine to be targeting in Russia’s depth in order to disrupt the logistics that, if they weren’t disrupted, would directly contribute to death and carnage on Ukrainian soil,” he told Times Radio.
