A Russian fighter jet accidentally discharged a weapon that exploded in the Russian city of Belgorod, close to the Ukrainian border, on Thursday night.
Belgorod’s regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the blast had left a huge crater about 20 metres (60 ft) wide in the city centre.
The explosion also got three people injured while several buildings were destroyed as the Sukhoi Su-34 a supersonic fighter-bomber jet discharged.
“At around 22:15 Moscow time on April 20, when a Su-34 plane of the Russian Aerospace Forces was performing a flight above the city of Belgorod, an emergency release of an air ordnance occurred,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
The Belgorod region, which is about an hour’s drive from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, has been hit by rockets several times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to BBC.
It was revealed that two women were taken to hospital for treatment and a nine-storey apartment block was evacuated because of potential structural damage, Gladkov said.
Meanwhile, an investigation will be launched into the incident to ascertain the cause. – Agency report.