There was an explosion in Belgorod due to “an abnormal drop of munitions from a Su-34 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces”, “Kommersant” reported on April 21.
Late in the evening on April 20, Belgorod residents reported an explosion near Kharkov Mountain, a densely populated area in the southern part of the city. Around 10 p.m., photos and video of the intersection of Vatutina Avenue and Gubkin Street appeared in social networks, showing a large crater, broken asphalt, damaged cars, a fallen power pole and trees. Photographs taken from the windows of an apartment building show that one car was thrown onto the roof of the “Pyatyorochka” store by the blast wave.
Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram at 11:54 p.m.: “A huge crater with a radius of 20 meters was formed at the intersection of one of the main streets. There is damage to the glazing in a neighboring apartment building, the blast wave damaged several parked cars and knocked down power transmission poles”.
According to the head of the region, there are two injured as a result of the explosion. One woman with a brain injury was taken to the city hospital № 2 in a moderate state of severity, the second woman with abrasions refused hospitalization – she was treated on the spot.
Gladkov specified: “As a result of examination of the territory, damage was detected in four apartments in an apartment building on Shalandin Street. All residents of damaged apartments are offered temporary accommodation in a hotel. There will be an examination of the house, if a load-bearing wall is damaged, we will move the entire staircase. Four cars were also damaged”.
The Defense Ministry explained that the explosion was the result of an “abnormal descent of an aircraft munition” during a flight of the Su-34 of the Air Force over Belgorod. The agency said that an investigation was underway.
