New Delhi: Russia’s military has admitted that a bomb accidentally dropped by one of its warplanes caused a powerful explosion in a Russian town near the border with Ukraine, injuring two people and scaring locals, news agency AP reported. During Russia’s current military operation in Ukraine, Belgorod, a city of 340,000 people located about 40 kilometers (25 mi) east of the Russia-Ukraine border, has been subjected to regular drone attacks. Earlier attacks were blamed on the Ukrainian military, which did not directly claim responsibility for the attacks. The late-night explosion was more powerful than anything Belgorod residents had ever seen. Witnesses said an explosion was followed by a low hissing sound that shook nearby apartment buildings and shattered their windows.
It left a 20-metre (66-foot) wide crater in the middle of a tree-lined boulevard lined with apartments, damaged several cars and threw a vehicle onto the roof of a store. Two people were injured, and a third person was later hospitalized with high blood pressure, officials said.
Video:
explode in #Belgorod 3 injured, 9 storey building damaged. A quick response from the Russian authorities, including Governor Gladkov, who made sure to settle those affected in a hotel. Restoration of road and building will start soon pic.twitter.com/zBcLQTekSl– Russian Market (@runews) April 21, 2023
Immediately after the explosion, Russian commentators and military bloggers were abuzz about what weapon Ukraine had used for the attack. Many of them called for stronger retaliation. But about an hour later, the Russian Defense Ministry acknowledged that the explosion was caused by a munition accidentally fired by one of its Su-34 bombers.
Su-34 bomber dropped 500 KG bomb
The ministry gave no further details, but military experts said the weapon was likely a 500 kg (1,100 lb) warhead. Military experts alleged that it appeared that the weapon was designed to detonate after impact with a small delay that would allow it to hit underground facilities.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said local authorities decided to temporarily resettle residents of the nine-story apartment building while it was inspected to ensure it had not suffered structural damage that would make it uninhabitable. became unsafe for
Russian commentators questioned why the warplanes flew over Belgorod and urged the military to avoid such risky overflights in the future. In October, a Russian warplane crashed next to a residential building in the port city of Yeysk on the Sea of Azov, killing 15 people. Yeysk hosts a large Russian air base that houses warplanes that fly missions over Ukraine.
Military experts have noted that as the number of Russian military flights has increased exponentially during the fighting, so have crashes and misfires. In another fatal incident in the Belgorod region, two volunteer soldiers opened fire on Russian soldiers at a military firing range, killing 11 and wounding 15 others.