Friday, April 21, 2023

Russia Bombs Its Own City by Mistake

BY ISABEL VAN BRUGEN ON 4/21/23 AT 3:12 AM EDT



 

A pair of Russian SU34 military jets take part in an exhibition flight on July 18, 2017 at the annual air show MAKS 2017 in Zhukovsky, some 40 km outside Moscow.MLADEN ANTONOV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Russia's defense ministry has said one of its own fighter jets accidentally bombed the eastern Russian city of Belgorod, near the border with Ukraine, on Thursday.

A powerful explosion was reported in Belgorod's city center on Thursday evening. Russian Telegram channels reported that multi-story buildings were damaged, while the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said three people were injured in the blast.

Belgorod is located near the Ukrainian border and houses several Russian military bases and training grounds.

Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the blast, which took place at 10:55 p.m. local time, was the result of an emergency ammunition drop.

"On April 20, during the flight of an Su-34 aircraft of the Aerospace Forces over the city of Belgorod, there was an abnormal descent of an aircraft munition. As a result, there was damage to residential buildings, no casualties. An investigation is underway," it said.

Gladkov said on his Telegram channel that the explosion had damaged four apartments and four cars, destroyed power line poles, and left a "huge" crater in the city center. Restoration work should be completed by Monday, he said.

The regional governor said one woman was hospitalized with a head injury.

"Thank God there are no dead," he wrote, adding that temporary accommodation in a hotel is being offered to all residents of damaged apartments.

Gladkov posted images on Telegram showing the extent of the damage, including shattered windows, damaged cars and apartment buildings, and debris covering the city's streets.

Belgorod has been rocked with explosions and mysterious fires throughout Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, with local authorities regularly reporting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the area.

On January 14, a Russian sergeant set off a grenade at his unit in the Belgorod region's Korochansky district to "establish authority," causing an explosion that killed three soldiers and injured 16 others.

Russian emergency services told the state-run news agency Interfax that the sergeant accidentally detonated a hand grenade, which caused ammunition to blow up and started a fire.

Baza, a Russian Telegram channel that regularly posts information about security issues within the country, said the man who caused the blast "picked up an RGD-5 grenade in order to establish authority over his troops."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's defense ministry by email for additional comment.

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-bomb-belgorod-explosion-blast-fighter-jet-1795794

No comments:

Post a Comment