Russia accidentally bombs own city near Ukraine

A Russian fighter jet has accidentally dropped a bomb on the city of Belgorod near the border with Ukraine, according to the Russian defence ministry. The incident occurred on Thursday evening and left a huge crater in the city centre, with reports of two women being injured and several buildings being damaged.

A Su-34 fighter-bomber jet accidentally discharged aircraft ordnance, the ministry said. An investigation is under way. Photos and videos on social media show apartments damaged by the blast, while one image appears to show a car on the roof of a building. 

Belgorod, a city of 370,000, is about 25 miles from the Ukrainian border and lies just north of Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv. People in Belgorod have reportedly been living in fear of Ukrainian shelling since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, and Russian jets also regularly fly over the city on their way to Ukraine.