An accidental weapon discharge from a Russian Sukhoi-34 supersonic warplane caused an explosion in the city of Belgorod near Ukraine on Thursday, resulting in injuries to three people.
The incident led to significant damage in the area, with video footage showing debris on the streets, damaged vehicles, and shattered windows on a nearby building. In one instance, a car was found overturned on the roof of a store.
Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov declared a state of emergency in response to the explosion. He reported that a 20-meter-wide crater had formed on one of the city’s main streets, and that four cars and four apartment buildings had sustained damage. He expressed relief in a statement on Telegram that there were no fatalities, and mentioned that an apartment building had been evacuated overnight.
The Russian news agency Tass cited the Russian Defence Ministry, which confirmed that a Su-34 supersonic fighter-bomber had unintentionally discharged a munition while flying over Belgorod. The type of weapon involved in the accident was not disclosed. The ministry acknowledged the damage to several buildings and announced that an investigation into the incident was already underway.