During the almost 14 months of fighting in Ukraine, Belgorod and its province is one of the Russian regions that has regularly suffered sporadic attacks launched from Ukrainian territory. This Thursday night another explosion was recorded in the center of the city. But it was not caused by an enemy missile, but by ammunition from a Russian Sukhoi Su-34 two-seater fighter-bomber plane that fell accidentally, according to the explanation of the Russian Ministry of Defense. As a consequence, three people were injured.
The crater caused by the bomb hitting the ground was “enormous,” said the governor of Belgorod Oblast, Viacheslav Gladkov. Actually, 20 meter radius.
The political leader reported Thursday that the explosion injured two people: a woman suffered abrasions and was treated by the health services at the scene, while another suffered head trauma, for which she had to be hospitalized. This Friday, Gladkov raised the number of injured to three, also another woman.
“The windows of a nearby apartment building were damaged. The burst of the explosion damaged several cars parked nearby and knocked down power poles,” he later added on his channel on the Telegram messaging application. “Thank God, there are no deaths.”
After reports from local authorities, the Russian Defense Ministry admitted that “during the flight of the Su-34 aircraft of the Aerospace Forces over the city of Belgorod, an abnormal drop of aviation ammunition occurred.” According to this department, the incident occurred at 10:15 p.m. (9:15 p.m. in Barcelona; 7:15 p.m. GMT time). But he did not explain what kind of weapon came off the plane.
Belgorod Oblast, bordering Ukraine, is regularly hit by artillery or drones that Russia attributes to Ukraine. In January, Gladkov claimed that since the start of the conflict, 25 people had died and more than 90 had been injured.
Other Russian regions bordering Ukraine, such as Kursk and Briansk, also have a similar experience.
In October 2022, another Russian aviation error caused a catastrophe on its own territory. An Su-34 fighter crashed into a residential building in the city of Yeisk, in Krasnodar Krai and along the Azov Sea, southern Russia. 16 people died, including several children.
