Ukraine helicopters attacked fuel depot in Belgorod, Russian officials claim

ITV News Correspondent Geraint Vincent describes the blaze at an oil depot in Belgorod region, Russia. Russian officials said it had been attacked by Ukraine forces

Ukrainian helicopters attacked a fuel depot in the southwestern Russian city of Belgorod, Russian officials said.

If confirmed, it would be the first attack of its kind by Ukrainian forces inside Russia since Vladimir Putin's forced invaded five weeks ago.

The alleged attacks come as humanitarian routes out of bombarded Mariupol collapsed ahead of a further round of talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Videos and images show flames and thick smoke billowing from the depot in Belgorod which is owned Russian energy giant Roseneft about 21 miles from the Ukraine border.

Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed on his Telegram channel that the helicopters crossed the border and were flying at a low altitude as the facility was attacked.

At least two workers were injured and some areas of the city were evacuated, Gladkov said.

But, Rosneft (ROSN.MM), which owns the fuel depot, said in a separate statement that no one was hurt in the fire and gave no information on what caused it.

Low flying helicopters are seen near the fuel depot

Russian energy minister Nikolai Shulginov said the region's fuel supplies or prices for consumers would not be affected by the incident.

Ukrainian authorities did not immediately comment on the incident and it has not been immediately possible to verify the claim or images that were circulating on social media of the alleged attack.

Russian troops were also reported to have left the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site early on Friday and returning control to the Ukrainians after a number of soldiers became ill from radiation exposure.

Ukraine’s state power company, Energoatom, said Russian troops pulled out of Chernobyl after the soldiers received “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches in the forest in the exclusion zone around the closed plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency said it could not independently confirm the exposure claim.

ITV News Correspondent Geraint Vincent, in Lviv, western Ukraine, on the attack in Russia and its repercussions

Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces have retaken the villages of Sloboda and Lukashivka, which are south of the besieged northern city of Chernihiv and located along one of the main supply routes between the city and Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Ukraine has also continued to make successful but limited counterattacks to the east and northeast of Kyiv, the ministry said.

Despite Ukrainian gains, residents in parts of eastern Ukraine were braced for renewed attacks while emergency relief and evacuation convoys for the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol broke down again  following reports of continued Russian interference.

Talks aimed at stopping the fighting in Ukraine resumed on Friday as another attempt to rescue civilians from the besieged port city of Mariupol failed.