A senior Ukrainian intelligence official suspected Russia itself was behind the attack, while a former senior U.S. intelligence officer doubted that theory.
A brazen attack against a Russian oil depot in the border region of Belgorod has elicited international attention but few answers, as Ukrainian officials deflected accusations of their country’s involvement in the attack and some even alleged Moscow itself had staged the strike. But one former senior U.S. intelligence officer cast doubt on that explanation. Shortly after news of the attack on the fuel site roughly 18 miles from the border emerged Friday, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov claimed the fiery scene was the result of airstrikes conducted by two Ukrainian Air Force helicopters that entered Russian airspace at low altitude. Footage purporting to depict the moment of the attack was later broadcast, showing what appeared to be a series of strikes against the facility and two Mi-24 helicopters fleeing the scene near to the ground. At a press conference in Poland, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he could neither confirm nor deny the attack. Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk took a similar stance when speaking to reporters. «I want to note that as of today, the Ukrainian state is carrying out a defense operation to repel armed Russian aggression on the territory of Ukraine,» Motuzyanyk said. «And this does not mean at all that Ukraine should be responsible for all miscalculations and all catastrophes, all events taking place on the territory of the Russian Federation.» Noting that this was not the first time Kyiv had been accused of cross-border attacks, he said he «will neither confirm nor deny this information.» A senior Ukrainian intelligence official who spoke to Newsweek on the condition of anonymity said with «99.9%» certainty that the attack was actually a Russian strike conducted deliberately to place the blame on Ukraine. The official saw it as a potential tactic to drum up further support for Russia’s embattled troops as they pivot their strategy away from stalled offensives deep in Ukrainian territory to refocus on the eastern Donbas region, where pro-Moscow separatists first took up arms eight years ago. This part of the country, home to the self-proclaimed, Russia-recognized Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), is far more accessible and easy to operate in for Russia than it is for Ukraine. «In order to fly to Belgorod, it was necessary to fly through the entire territory of the DPR unnoticed and return back,» the senior Ukrainian intelligence official said. «Do you think this is real?» But one former senior U.S. counterintelligence officer with extensive work dealing with Russia was less swayed by the «false flag» narrative, telling Newsweek that «the term false flag is being used so much, it’s almost as ‘fake news’ is being used here.
