...
By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
The number of accidental bombings by Russia on its own territory and regions in Ukraine it occupies over the last four months has hit three figures, according to an assessment by independent Russian language media outlet Astra.
Moscow has previously admitted that its aircraft have mistakenly bombed territory under Russian control, as Ukrainian-held settlements and cities face an onslaught of powerful aerial guided bombs.
Many of the accidents have occurred in the Belgorod oblast which borders Ukraine and hosts Russian military bases and training grounds. The region has been the scene of numerous drone strikes which Moscow blames on Ukraine as it has been rocked by near-daily explosions.
Read More on News
In the latest reported incidents, Astra said that a FAB Soviet aerial bomb with a high explosive warhead, was found near a residential building in the village of Krapivnoye, which is located in Belgorod's Shebekinsky district.
...
Another bomb was found that same day in a field near the village of Dobroye, according to the outlet which cited unnamed sources in the region's emergency services. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, a third explosive was discovered in the village of Tseplyaevo-Vtoroye. No one was injured in any of the incidents and it was not clear if the discoveries were related, the outlet said.
Astra said that this means the total number of bombs which have accidentally hit Russian territory—or at least land it occupies in the last four months—has reached 103. This claim has not been independently verified and Newsweek has contacted the Russian defense ministry for comment.
However, other headline-grabbing incidents have caused much more damage than these latest reports. Last month, seven people were injured and dozens of households damaged when a Russian plane dropped a FAB-500 on Belgorod during strikes on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on May 4.
Nearly two weeks later, Russian military aircraft dropped eight FAB aerial bombs on the Belgorod region on May 16, according to Astra which said no ammunition was detonated and there were no casualties.
There have been other incidents of accidental strikes by Russia's air force earlier in the war. In April 2023, a Russian Sukhoi-34 fighter-jet accidentally bombed Belgorod leaving a 60-foot crater and causing the evacuation of an apartment block. Video on social media showed how the blast had lifted a vehicle on to the roof of a supermarket in an incident that the Russian defense ministry admitted had been caused by "accidentally discharged aircraft ordnance."
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines