Russia ‘accidentally’ fires on city near Ukraine border

David Ljunggren | April 21, 2023

A Russian warplane has accidentally fired a weapon into the city of Belgorod near Ukraine, causing an explosion and damaging buildings, local media cites the defence ministry as saying.

Local authorities reported a large blast in the city, which lies just across the border from Ukraine, on Thursday, Russian news agency Tass said.

The regional governor said two women had been injured.

“As a Sukhoi Su-34 air force plane was flying over the city of Belgorod there was an accidental discharge of aviation ammunition,” Tass cited the defence ministry as saying.

It did not say what kind of weapon was involved.

The Su-34 is a supersonic fighter-bomber jet.

According to Tass, the ministry said some buildings had been damaged and a probe was under way.

Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced a state of emergency and said there was a 20-metre-wide crater across one of the main streets. 

Four cars and four apartment buildings were damaged, he said on the Telegram messaging app.

Video footage from the site showed piles of concrete on the street, several damaged cars, and a building with broken windows. 

One shot showed what appeared to be a car upside down on the roof of a shop.

The Belgorod region is one of several parts of southern Russia where targets such as fuel and ammunition stores have been rocked by explosions since the start of what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.