Ukraine war: Russia bombs its own city of Belgorod in epic blunder
Moscow confirmed fighter a jet ‘lost ammunition’, in another way of admitting they accidentally bombed their own city, injuring Russians and leaving a massive crater behind. See the images.
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Moscow bombed one of its own cities in a massive blunder that left two women injured, property blasted apart and a massive crater in the centre of a Russian border town.
The Kremlin confirmed the “abnormal descent of aviation ammunition over Belgorod”, near the Ukrainian border, after local authorities first reported the blast.
Russian jets have regularly flown sorties over Belgorod since the launch of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine in February 2022.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the region of Belgorod, said the blast had sent a shockwave that damaged four apartments and four cars and downed power line poles.
“An explosion took place,” Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that investigators and representatives of the emergencies ministry were at the scene.
He said that as a result of the explosion, a “huge” crater some 20 metres wide (65 feet) had appeared in the city centre.
Gladkov and Belgorod’s mayor, Valentin Demidov, posted pictures of damage on social media.
One picture showed grim-looking locals huddling outside an apartment building, with one woman holding a small dog, and a fire engine nearby.
Other images showed apartment interiors wrecked by the blast. Local authorities did not say what caused the blast, but the Russian defence ministry released a statement saying a fighter aircraft had lost ammunition over Belgorod.
“During the flight of the Su-34 aircraft of the aerospace forces over the city of Belgorod, an abnormal descent of aviation ammunition has occurred,” the ministry said.
Citing preliminary information, Gladkov said one woman was hospitalised with a head injury, while another woman was treated at the scene.
Demidov said residents of the damaged buildings would be temporarily moved to hotels.
The region of Belgorod has been repeatedly shelled since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
In January, Gladkov told Putin that 25 people had been killed and more than 90 injured in the region since the start of the offensive.
In October 2022, an SU-34 jet crashed into a residential building in the southern city of Yeysk, also near the border with Ukraine, killing 16 people, including several children
BLAST LEAVES HUGE CRATER IN BELGOROD
A large blast rocked a street in the Russian city of Belgorod, which lies just across the border from Ukraine
Witnesses reported a whistling noise before a blast blew a crater about 20 metres wide in the centre of the large city.
“An explosion took place. According to preliminary information, there are no victims,” governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Belgorod mayor Valentin Demidov arrived at the scene and posted pictures of damage on Telegram including one image which showed him speaking to a local resident in what appeared to be her damaged apartment.
The explosion happened less than a mile from a power station, which some sources allege could have been the intended target of the device.
However, there is speculation the blast could have been a Russian bomb which fell short of its target in nearby Kharkiv.
Neither the governor nor the mayor said what caused the explosion, however, Mr Gladkov said that the blast had sent a massive wave that shattered windows in an apartment building, damaged several cars and downed power line poles.
Photos revealed damage to nearby apartments and cars, with windows shattered from the boom.
Mr Demidov said that residents of the buildings damaged in the blast could be temporarily moved to hotels.
The Belgorod region, including the city of the same name, has been repeatedly hit by shelling since President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
In January, Mr Gladkov told Mr Putin that 25 people had been killed and more than 90 injured in the region since the start of the offensive.
‘STORM IS COMING’: CRACK NEW UKRAINE TROOPS EYE CRIMEA
Ukraine’s new “Storm brigade” vows to “destroy Russian troops” as they prepare to sweep across the frontline all the way to Crimea in a coming spring counteroffensive.
In a glade of pine trees, a group of Ukrainians launched a surprise attack against balaclava-clad enemy forces in a training exercise for the much-hyped battle expected to begin at any moment.
The Bureviy, or storm, brigade known was created with the express purpose of deploying to the frontline when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy orders the start of Ukraine’s attack to take back occupied territories in the Donbas.
The Storm brigade joins the Spartan, Steel Border, and Rage brigades that among the new brigades revealed by the Pentagon leak as being trained by western and Ukraine allies to face off against Russia’s troops.
More than 23,000 people applied to join the new brigade, which has orders to liberate regions that are now under Moscow occupation, which they say includes Crimea.
“It’s time to return what’s ours,” reads the National Guard’s recruitment site. An online ad for the Bureviy brigade warns: “Occupiers, a storm is coming!”
“At the beginning of the war, we took a defensive position. Our task was to restrain the enemy,” said one of the Bureviy soldiers, Taras, 41, who joined up soon after Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Taras has fought in eastern hot spots including Bakhmut and Sieverodonetsk.
“Now we must go on the counteroffensive. We need to win back what was taken from us,” said the former manager in a factory making armoured doors.
While it has been renamed, the National Guard brigade traces its history back to 2014, when defenders of Kyiv’s Maidan central square went to fight.
This year, Kyiv has poured in resources, soldiers said.
“Now all our specialists (such as medics) are going abroad for training,” Taras said.
“Now there is full supply of uniforms, body armour and helmets, and food.” “Everything has changed a lot. The motivation is good.”
New recruits are not immediately going into battle, he said. “The units are divided so that there are fighters who have already been through battles and have experience, and we add recruits there.”
“It has become much better, our unit has grown four times larger, we have more instructors from the West. In general, the level of training has increased, there are more weapons,” said a 21-year-old intelligence officer with the call sign Bazooka, who joined almost three years ago.
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