A Russian warplane dropped a bomb on a Russian city of over 400,000 people late Thursday, April 20, causing a crater 40 metres (130 feet) broad, throwing a car into a roof and damaging houses in what Russian official media described as a “emergency release of air ordnance.”
According to state news agencies RIA Novosti and TASS, the bomb was dropped by a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber above the city of Belgorod, 40 kilometres (24.8 miles) north of the Ukrainian border.
“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 added that two people were hurt in the explosion.
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.
Since Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022, the Belgorod region has been the site of multiple explosions and bombings.
View the video below.
Crazy video showing what happened last night in Belgorod, Russia.
A Su-34 "accidentally"dropped an aerial bomb.
At 00:09 the projectile enters the ground, and at 00:27 it explodes pic.twitter.com/66rubPhbjR
— Parrot ™ 🇺🇦 (@parrot_soldier) April 21, 2023
