(CNN) A Russian warplane dropped a bomb on a Russian city of more than 400,000 people on Thursday, leaving a crater 20 meters (65 feet) wide, blowing a car onto its roof and damaged buildings in what state media called an “accidental” or “emergency.” “release of air ordnance.
A Russian Su-34 aircraft, a twin-engine fighter-bomber, was conducting a flight over the city of Belgorod, 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) north of the Ukrainian border when the “accidental” drop of bullets occurred, according to reports from the state news agency RIA Novosti.
“At about 22:15 Moscow time on April 20, when a Su-34 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces was flying over the city of Belgorod, an emergency release of an air ordnance took place,” it was quoted in TASS the Russian Defense Ministry said.
“It happened at the intersection of one of the central streets, leaving a large impact crater with a radius of 20 meters,” Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, said in a Telegram post.
An overturned car landed on the roof of a shop, according to RIA Novosti.
Belgorod Mayor Valentin Demidov wrote on his Telegram channel that several apartment buildings were damaged in the explosion.
Two people were reportedly injured in the blast, Gladkov said.
Russian state media boasted about the country’s Su-34 fighter jets in December, when it said a “new batch of … frontline bombers” had been delivered to Russian forces for use against Ukraine. It did not give a specific number of planes delivered.
“The Su-34 bomber will comprise the basic strike power of Russian frontline aircraft. The upgraded Su-34 warplane has expanded combat capabilities that enable it to use advanced air-launched munitions, adding in the range of striking ground and naval targets and expansion of conditions. and accuracy of bombing, “a TASS report at the time.
Aircraft can carry a variety of munitions, including air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles as well as guided and unguided bombs.
Russian state media did not say what kind of bullets fell on Belgorod on Thursday.
Moscow’s Su-34 fleet has seen heavy losses since the start of the war, with 10% or more destroyed by some estimates. The Netherlands-based Oryx open source intelligence website says it has visible evidence of 19 of the planes missing in combat and non-combat instances.
‘Strange’ circumstances, analyst says
Peter Layton, a visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute and former Royal Australian Air Force officer, said a pilot could jettison bombs if their plane lost power, or in the case of a Su-34, will lose power in one of its two engines.
But he called Thursday’s incident in Belgorod “strange” for several reasons.
First, the bullet went off. In an emergency, ordnance is usually released in a “safe” manner so that it does not detonate, unless “the detonation of the bomb is very sensitive to shock.”
Second, a pilot often fires bombs in unmanned areas.
“Where the bomb hit; the center of town, not the countryside, almost suggests precision,” Layton said.
Third, in the event of a problem, a fighter plane is expected to jettison all of its munitions, not just one. “Maybe they did but only one exploded,” Layton said.
The Belgorod region has been the scene of several explosions and bombings since Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022.
Earlier this week, a village in the region, on the border with Ukraine, was attacked by Kyiv forces, Gladkov claimed in a Telegram post.
Local media reported that two drones dropped small bombs on local thermal power plants, citing an unknown source.
Ukraine would not confirm its involvement in the incident.
“We will neither confirm nor deny [Ukraine’s involvement],” a representative of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, Andrii Yusov, said in comments broadcast on Ukrainian national television on Monday.
“I think that the Russians should get used to the fact that while they are waging an unjustified war of aggression, there are no safe places on their territory.”
“The war has come to the home of every Russo-fascist and every member of the Russian regime,” he added.
This story has been updated to correct the size of the Bolgorod bomb crater, according to Russian officials.