Russia accidentally bombed its own city and things only got worse

On April 20th, a Russian Sukhoi-34 jet flying a sortie against presumed Ukrainian targets accidentally dropped a bomb on Belgorod, a Russian city 25 miles from the border with Ukraine. 

The bomb's explosion created a 60-foot crater according to initial reports from BBC News and the blast was so powerful that “it blew a car onto the roof of a nearby shop.”

Three people were injured and several buildings were damaged by the explosion but the area’s regional governor said no one had been killed in a message on Telegram.  

“Thank God there are no dead," Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram according to a translation provided by Reuters’ David Ljunggren. 

In a statement from Russia’s Ministry of Defense, officials acknowledged the incident and said that it was the result of an accident but gave few other details on what actually happened. 

“As a Sukhoi Su-34 air force plane was flying over the city of Belgorod there was an accidental discharge of aviation ammunition,” the statement noted according to Russia state-owned news agency TASS reported, which was translated by The Guardian. 

According to the Guardian’s Pjotr Sauer, Russian military bloggers originally blamed Ukraine for the bombing with pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov taking to Telegram to voice his opinion on how the Russian government should respond. 

“Ukrainian special services show that they can blow up almost everything,” Markov wrote according to Sauer and The Guardian’s translation. “Our response must be tougher.” 

For Sauer, the Kremlin's quick response to the situation and their admission of responsibility indicated that Ukrainian attacks within Russia must be a sensitive issue for the country's leaders. 

On April 22nd, the crisis in Belgorod was made worse when a bomb was discovered near the area where the Russian jet had accidentally struck the city, forcing the evacuation of roughly 3000 people from surrounding buildings according to CNN. 

“Explosives specialists assessed the device and said there was no danger of explosion,” CNN’s Darya Tarasova wrote, citing information obtained from TASS. 

The mayor of Belgorod, Valentin Demidov was quick to take to social media and tell the citizens of his city that the situation was under control and that the bomb had been removed. 

Photo by Telegram @v_v_demidov

“The bomb was removed from the residential area. Residents are being delivered back to their homes,” Demidov wrote on Telegram according to a translation from the Associated Press. 

Photo by Telegram @v_v_demidov

The Associated Press reported that at least seventeen residential buildings were evacuated as a precautionary measure and noted that Russian authorities had not said if the second explosive device was linked to the accidental bombing on April 20th.  

Photo by Telegram @v_v_demidov

The incident in Belgorod wasn’t the first time a Russian city was endangered by military ineptitude during the conflict in Ukraine. In October 2022, a Russian warplane mysteriously crashed into a building in the port city of Yeysk during a training mission. 

Photo by Telegram @v_v_demidov

CBS News reported at the time that at least 14 people were killed in the accident with another 19 others being hospitalized for injuries related to the crash. One of those sent to the hospital later died, which put the total death toll for the incident at 15 people.  

Photo by Telegram @v_v_demidov