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Russian army mistakenly bombs Belgorod in another friendly fire incident

Russia’s Belgorod Oblast has been a frequent launch point for attacks on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

byYevheniia Martyniuk

13/05/2024

2 minute read

Impact site of Russian FAB-500 bomb in Belgorod suburb. Photo: Ostorozhno, Novosti

Russian army mistakenly bombs Belgorod in another friendly fire incident

The Russian army accidentally dropped a FAB-500 bomb on its own territory in Belgorod, according to reports from local residents to emergency services.

Belgorod Oblast has been a frequent staging ground for attacks on Ukraine’s Kharkiv.

The heavy bomb landed near a residential area in Razumnoye-54 on the city outskirts, embedding itself in the ground without detonating, RFE/RL reported. Authorities plan to evacuate nearby residents as a precaution.

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1789958713370915019

Ukrainian publication Defense Express analyzed that the bomb likely had a UMPK guidance kit, turning it into a precision-guided munition.

“Failure to deploy the wings in this kit is a fairly common situation,” Defense Express claims.

Defense Express has geolocated the aerial bomb that fell in Belgorod. Photo: Defense Express

Meanwhile, Russian Telegram channels reported that there were actually two bombs dropped.

“Preliminarily, the first munition fell yesterday evening, and the second one early in the morning a few dozen meters from residential houses on Vereskovaya Street,” wrote the Telegram channel Ostorozhno, Novosti (Beware, News).

This follows a May 12 incident where an apartment entrance collapsed in Belgorod, killing 19. Russia blamed Ukrainian shelling, but independent analysts noted the blast pattern suggested an internal detonation.

OSINT analyst Oliver Alexander noted that the facade of the building, where the entrance collapsed, appears to be parallel to the border between Russia and Ukraine, based on satellite images. Thus, the outer side of the building faces Russian territory, while the inner courtyard side faces Ukraine. The explosion occurred on the outer “Russian” side of the building.

The Russian publication Pepel (Ashes) comes to similar conclusions, noting that on the side facing Ukraine, most windows remain intact, while on the “Russian” side, there are no intact windows left.

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