In what state media labelled a “accidental” or “emergency” release of air ordnance, a Russian warplane dropped a bomb on a Russian city of more than 400,000 people late Thursday, producing a crater 20 metres (65 feet) across, blowing a car into a roof, and damaging buildings.
According to state news agency RIA Novosti, the “accidental” drop of munition occurred while a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber was flying above the city of Belgorod, 40 kilometres (24.8 miles) north of the border with Ukraine.
“At around 22:15 Moscow time on April 20, when a Su-34 plane of the Russian Aerospace Forces was performing a flight above the city of Belgorod, an emergency release of an air ordnance occurred,” the Russian Defence Ministry said, according to TASS.
“It happened at the intersection of one of the central streets, leaving a huge impact crater with a radius of 20 metres,” Belgorod area governor Vyacheslav Gladkov stated in a Telegram post.
According to RIA Novosti, an overturned car crashed on the roof of a store.
Belgorod Mayor Valentin Demidov stated on his Telegram channel that the blast destroyed multiple apartment structures.
Gladkov said that two persons were hurt in the incident.
Last December, Russian state media boasted about the country’s Su-34 warplanes, claiming that a “new batch of… frontline bombers” had been handed to Russian military for use against Ukraine. It did not specify the quantity of planes provided.
“The Su-34 bomber will provide the primary strike capability of Russian frontline aircraft.” The modified Su-34 warplane has “extended combat capabilities that allow it to use advanced air-launched munitions, increase the range of striking ground and naval targets, and expand the conditions and accuracy of bombing runs,” according to a TASS article at the time.
Air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, as well as guided and unguided bombs, can be carried by the jets.
The type of munition that dropped on Belgorod late Thursday was not disclosed by Russia’s state media.
Moscow’s Su-34 fleet has suffered substantial losses since the war began, with some estimates putting the loss at 10% or more. The open source intelligence website Oryx, based in the Netherlands, claims to have video evidence of 19 of the planes lost in both combat and non-combat incidents.
Analyst describes the conditions as “unusual.”
According to Peter Layton, a visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute and former Royal Australian Air Force officer, a pilot may drop bombs when their aircraft loses power, or in the instance of a Su-34, when one of its two engines loses power.
He did, however, call Thursday’s Belgorod incident “odd” for various reasons.
First, the munition detonated. In an emergency, ordnance is generally deployed in a “safe” mode to avoid detonation, unless “the bomb’s explosive filing is very sensitive to shock.”
Second, a pilot would typically drop a bomb in an unpopulated region.
“Where the bomb hit; the town centre, not the countryside, almost suggests accuracy,” Layton explained.
Third, if there is a problem, a warplane is required to drop all weapons, not just one. “Maybe they were, but only one exploded,” Layton speculated.
Since Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022, the Belgorod region has been the site of multiple explosions and bombings.
Gladkov said in a Telegram post that Kyiv’s forces attacked a community in the region near the Ukrainian border earlier this week.
According to local media, two drones dropped tiny bombs on nearby thermal power plants, citing an unidentified source.
Ukraine has refused to confirm its role in the tragedy.
“We will not confirm or deny [Ukraine’s involvement],” Andrii Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence, said in comments carried on Ukrainian state television on Monday.
“I think Russians should get used to the fact that while they are waging an unjust war of aggression, there are no safe places on their territory.”
“The war has already come to the homes of every Russo-fascist and every subject of the Russian regime,” he continued.
