Moscow, Russia:
Russia said one of its fighter jets lost ammunition over Belgorod near the Ukrainian border on Thursday after local authorities reported a blast that injured two people and left a huge crater in the city.
Since the launch of the Moscow offensive in Ukraine in February 2022, Russian fighter jets have regularly conducted missions over Belgorod.
On Thursday evening, local officials reported a massive explosion in Belgorod, saying the blast had left a crater in the city center and injured two women.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, said the blast had caused a shock wave that damaged four apartments and four cars and knocked down power pylons.
“An explosion occurred,” Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging app, adding that investigators and representatives from the Ministry of Emergency were at the scene.
He said that as a result of the explosion, a “huge” crater about 20 meters wide appeared in the city center.
The mayor of Gladkov and Belgorod, Valentin Demidov, posted photos of damage on social media.
One photo showed grim-looking locals huddled in front of an apartment building, with a woman holding a small dog and a fire truck nearby.
Other images showed apartment interiors destroyed by the blast.
Local authorities have not said what caused the explosion, but the Russian Defense Ministry released a statement saying a fighter jet 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 munitions occurred,” the ministry said.
The statement from Russian news agencies added that the incident occurred at 22:15 local time.
Citing preliminary information, Gladkov said one woman was hospitalized with head injuries, while another woman was treated at the scene.
Demidov said residents of the damaged buildings would be temporarily transferred to hotels.
The Belgorod region has been repeatedly shelled since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
In January, Gladkov told Putin that 25 people have been killed and more than 90 wounded 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.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)