The Russian city of Belgorod near the Ukrainian border was rocked by a massive explosion on Thursday evening. According to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, a Russian Air Force Sukhoi-34 fighter jet lost ammunition while flying over Belgorod. “An abnormal discharge of Air Force ammunition has occurred,” it said.
Expert doubts Kremlin explanation for accidental explosion for three reasons
However, military expert Peter Layton says the Defense Department’s statement is “odd” for a number of reasons. A pilot can drop bombs if the plane loses power or one of the two engines fails, he told CNN. But he would normally do this in unpopulated areas – not directly above the roofs of a city of 400,000 people. “Where the bomb fell, which was in the city center and not in the countryside, almost suggests accuracy,” says Layton.
Second, Layton, a former Royal Australian Airforce officer, points out that in such a case, the munitions are triggered in a “safe” mode – so they don’t detonate. An exception is when it comes to very “shock-sensitive” explosives. What also surprises Layton: In an emergency, a fighter jet would drop all the ammunition – not just one. “Maybe that was the case, but only one exploded,” said the expert.
As recently as December, Russian state media boasted about the country’s Su-34 fighter jets and a “new series of front-line bombers” for Russian troops in Ukraine. “The upgraded Su-34 fighter jet has enhanced combat capabilities that allow it to use advanced munitions, increase range when attacking ground and sea targets, and improve accuracy of bombing raids,” the news agency said in a report at the time mug
Explosion leaves 40-meter crater in Belgorod city center
The city and region authorities did not comment on the cause of the explosion. Investigators are on site, said Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov. According to local officials, the explosion tore a huge crater about 40 meters in diameter in the city center and injured three people. One of the women was taken to the hospital for a head injury and the other was treated at the scene.
According to Gladkow, the shock wave triggered by the detonation damaged four apartments and four cars and caused nine power poles to fall. Gladkow and Mayor Valentin Demidow published pictures of the damage. Among other things, the interior of devastated apartments could be seen. According to Demidov, the residents of the destroyed apartments should be accommodated temporarily in hotels.
Since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, the city of Belgorod has come under repeated shelling. In January, Governor Gladkow announced that a total of 25 people had been killed and more than 90 others injured in the region of the same name since February 2022. In October, a Russian Sukhoi-34 plane crashed into a residential complex in the city of Yeysk on the Azov Sea near Ukraine. 16 people died, including several children.
