They are minuscule collateral damage, the consequences of the Russian invasion on their own territory. Minimal damage compared to the daily bombardment suffered by the Ukrainian populations targeted by the Army of Vladimir Putin since February 24, 2024. Although Russia recognized yesterday that there was an accidental launch of a missile by a Russian fighter, leaving three injured and causing a real social alarm among the residents of Belgorod, today there have been massive evacuations in the same Russian region.
Thus, this Saturday more than 3,000 people residing in buildings near the huge crater, about 20 meters in diameter, which left the air shell. And it is that the Russian authorities have found another explosive device in the vicinity.
What has not yet been recognized by the local authorities is whether the bomb discovered this Saturday came from the same plane, a Russian fighter Su-34. The projectile, as reported by Russian military analysts on social networks, was destined for Kharkiv, in Ukraine. And it is that the city, of about 370,000 inhabitants, is located just about 40 km from the border with Ukraine. Every day, fighter jets fly over Belgorod, heading for the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
In accordance with Viacheslav Gladkov, Governor of Belgorod, “the sappers found an explosive device. The bomb specialists of the Russian Ministry of Defense made the decision to deactivate it in a polygon,” he said on his Telegram channel. Therefore, he confirmed that 17 apartment buildings had to be cordoned off “within a radius of 200 meters”, affecting around 3,000 residents.
According to the EFE agency, the explosive device, the nature of which the Russian authorities do not specify, was found near the place where the previous bomb exploded, dropped by accident by a Russian combat plane.
The explosion of the projectile, whose type has not been specified by the Russian Ministry of Defense, also affected several residential buildings, cars and power line poles.
Defense added that an investigation has been launched to clarify the causes of the incident, which recalls the accident suffered in October by a Su-34 fighter that caused 16 deaths when it crashed into a building in the south of the country.