The defence ministry in Moscow says a Russian fighter jet accidentally bombed the city of Belgorod near the border with Ukraine.
Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the blast had left a huge crater about 20 metres (60 ft) wide in the city centre.
Three people were injured and several buildings were damaged, he said. One apartment block was evacuated.
A Su-34 fighter-bomber jet accidentally released the bomb, the ministry said.
The defence ministry said the bomb fell at 22:15 local time (19:15 GMT) on Thursday. There was no explanation for the bombing other than what it described as an "abnormal descent of aviation ammunition".
The bomb landed at an intersection of two roads not far from the city centre and next to residential buildings.
Two women were taken to hospital for treatment and a nine-storey apartment block was evacuated because of potential structural damage, Mr Gladkov said....
Opps.
In unrelated news a pilot-commander and a navigator-weapon operator are said to have been practicing wrestling moves when they both fell out of a 9th floor hotel window.
More than 3,000 people were evacuated on Saturday from residential buildings in the Russian city of Belgorod after a bomb was found close to the area accidentally bombed by Russia’s air force earlier this week, Russian state media reported....
... As Insider previously reported, Gen. James Hecker, commander of US Air Forces in Europe, argued earlier this year that jets just aren't needed right now, explaining that "the Russian as well as the Ukrainian success in integrated air and missile defense have made much of those aircraft worthless." ...
... The announcement comes a day after Prigozhin’s long-standing criticisms of Russia’s leaders appeared to boil over. In a video shared on Telegram on Thursday, the Wagner chief stood alongside what looked like rows of his recruits’ bloodied corpses and became apoplectic with rage as he said he lacked 70 percent of the ammunition he needs on the battlefield.
... A withdrawal by Wagner from Bakhmut could have a major effect on the battle for the city. Earlier this week, the White House’s National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that more than 20,000 Russian troops had died fighting in Ukraine in the last five months alone, the majority of whom had been killed in grueling trench warfare in Bakhmut.
Russia has made repeated claims of being close to completely capturing the city, but Ukraine has always maintained that the city has not been lost.
... The announcement comes a day after Prigozhin’s long-standing criticisms of Russia’s leaders appeared to boil over. In a video shared on Telegram on Thursday, the Wagner chief stood alongside what looked like rows of his recruits’ bloodied corpses and became apoplectic with rage as he said he lacked 70 percent of the ammunition he needs on the battlefield.
... A withdrawal by Wagner from Bakhmut could have a major effect on the battle for the city. Earlier this week, the White House’s National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that more than 20,000 Russian troops had died fighting in Ukraine in the last five months alone, the majority of whom had been killed in grueling trench warfare in Bakhmut.
Russia has made repeated claims of being close to completely capturing the city, but Ukraine has always maintained that the city has not been lost.
Zakhar Prilepin - Not just a writer, also a past and current war criminal.
... According to the BBC, the Atesh partisan movement claimed responsibility for the attack....
Atesh (Crimean Tatar: Ateş, literally "Fire", Ukrainian: Атеш, romanized: Atesh ) is a military partisan movement in the occupied territories of Ukraine, as well as in the territory of Russia, created by Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars and Russians in September 2022 as a result of the Russian military invasion.
Russian news outlet Kommersant said two Russian fighter jets and two military helicopters had been shot down on Saturday close to the Ukrainian border, in what would be a spectacular coup for Kyiv if confirmed.
Kommersant said on its website that the Su-34 fighter-bomber, Su-35 fighter and two Mi-8 helicopters had made up a raiding party, and had been "shot down almost simultaneously" in an ambush in the Bryansk region, adjoining northeast Ukraine....
... Fighterbomber, a pro-Russia Telegram channel with close links to Russia’s air force, said that this was the highest number of Russian aircraft downed in a single day “since March last year”.
Russia is believed to have lost four warplanes in a single day in early March (2022), and its forces suffered even heavier aircraft losses at the start of the invasion....
I'd take it with a grain, Putin has been ready to drop for years from cancer.
I'm skeptical of all war reporting from either side. Consider this a blanket disclaimer.
I give these reports a little more credence than many since a Russian official is attaching his name to them, and since a recently rare public appearance that suggested illness was broadcast. Here are more, the first one I linked above is missing an opening paragraph or two.
I'd take it with a grain, Putin has been ready to drop for years from cancer.
I'm skeptical of all war reporting from either side. Consider this a blanket disclaimer.
I give these reports a little more credence than many since a Russian official is attaching his name to them, and since a recently rare public appearance that suggested illness was broadcast. Here are more, the first one I linked above is missing an opening paragraph or two.