VIDEOS allegedly show blazes at oil depots near Kiev, Lugansk
A clip widely circulated by Ukrainian media, on Saturday night, purports to show a fire raging at an oil depot in the city of Vasilkov, located to the south-west of Kiev.
In a message posted on social media, the Kiev city administration called on local residents to seal their windows, warning about potential spread of toxic fumes in the vicinity of the blaze. Vasilkov is home to a Ukrainian Air Force base.
Another clip purportedly shows a blaze ravaging an oil depot in the city of Rovensky in the Lugansk People’s Republic, which has recently been recognized by Russia. About 200 tons of diesel fuel continue to burn in the city, LPR representatives told RIA Novosti on Sunday, claiming that the facility was rocked by two explosions.
RT cannot independently verify the videos.
The reports come as the Russian “special operation” in Ukraine goes into its fourth day. The Russian military maintains that it is targeting military infrastructure only in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order to “demilitarize” Ukraine to “defend” the people of newly-recognized Donbass republics from Kiev’s “aggression.”
On Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin ordered a pause in the advance of the military while waiting for a response from Kiev on the offer of negotiations. Claiming that the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the talks, the Kremlin said the operation would resume. Kiev, however, insisted that it was still ready to negotiate, denying reports that it rejected dialogue.
As of Saturday evening, there have been conflicting reports on whether Kiev wants to proceed with talks. Zelensky adviser Alexey Arestovich told Ukrainian media that Kiev would not sit down for talks at this time, saying the terms proposed by the Kremlin were unacceptable. Another Zelensky adviser, Mikhail Podolyak, told the media Ukraine was still open to meeting with Russian representatives, but would not accept “ultimatum-like conditions of the Russian side.”
