A Russian warplane accidentally discharged a weapon that exploded in the Russian city of Belgorod, close to the Ukrainian border, late Thursday night, causing an explosion and injuring several people, Politico, quoting state media, reports.
“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 defense ministry said in a statement to TASS, which didn’t specify the weapon that caused the damage, the report said.
The Sukhoi Su-34 is a supersonic fighter-bomber jet.
Late on Thursday, local authorities reported a large blast in the city, which lies just across the border from Ukraine. The regional governor said two women had been injured, according to The Guardian.
“As a Sukhoi Su-34 air force plane was flying over the city of Belgorod there was an accidental discharge of aviation ammunition,” the defence ministry said, according to Tass.
Belgorod’s regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said earlier on Telegram that there had been an explosion in the center of the city, leaving a crater measuring 20 meters, with several cars and buildings damaged.
The Politico, however, added that the Belgorod region, which is about an hour’s drive from the Ukrainian city Kharkiv, has been hit by rockets several times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.