1 of 1 Damaged block of flats at the crash site after a massive explosion on a street in the city of Belgorod, Russia on April 20, 2023 — Photo: Mayor of the city of Belgorod Valentin Demidov by telegram/handout via Portal Block of flats at the crash site damaged after a large explosion on a street in the city of Belgorod, Russia, April 20, 2023. — Photo: Mayor of the city of Belgorod Valentin Demidov by telegram/handout via Portal
A Russian warplane accidentally fired a gun at the city of Belgorod on the border with Ukraine on Thursday evening (20), causing an explosion and damaging buildings. Two women were injured.
“Aircraft munitions were accidentally fired while an Air Force Sukhoi Su34 aircraft was flying over the city of Belgorod,” the Russian Defense Ministry was quoted as saying by the state news agency Tass.
The governor of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, declared a state of emergency and informed by telegram that there was a crater with a diameter of 20 meters in one of the main streets of the city. Authorities said an investigation is already underway.
Video footage from the crime scene shows piles of concrete on the street, several damaged cars and a building with broken windows. According to the authorities, four cars and four residential buildings were damaged.
Belgorod is one of several regions in southern Russia where explosions have hit targets such as fuel and ammunition depots since the start of the war in Ukraine.