Russians close to Ukraine’s borders face the threat not only of air attacks ordered by Kyiv but also increasingly of missiles being mistakenly dropped by their own forces, with at least five such incidents reported in recent months.
Earlier in January, Russia even dropped missiles on its own territory twice in one day, according to the Russian ASTRA Telegram news channel. It comes amid reports of Moscow’s military accidentally dropping munitions and missiles on its own civilians.
Here is a summary of five incidents of bombs landing on Russian territory, apparently by mistake.
Newsweek contacted the Russian Defense Ministry (MOD) by email on Saturday for comment.
Yevhenii Zavhorodnii/Getty Images
January 13, 2024
There were reports of two Russian missiles falling on territory in the north and south of Russia on January 13.
In the morning, local authorities said an unidentified device fell between the villages of Pavlovskaya and Atamanskaya in the Krasnodar territory. Video and imagery showed the object that military analysts later determined was a Kalibr missile intended for the war in Ukraine nearby.
In the evening, another Kalibr missile reportedly fell in a field in the northern Leningrad region, ASTRA reported, but there were no casualties nor damage.
January 8, 2024
While it lies in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, which is claimed but not fully controlled by Moscow, a Russian aircraft dropped a bomb on the town of Rubezhnoye in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic.
The incident was described on Telegram by the Moscow-installed regional head, Leonid Pasechnik, as an “emergency discharge of the FAB-250 aircraft munition.”
An investigation was launched by Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and its Ministry of Emergency Situations.
January 2, 2024
Russia’s MOD made a rare admission that one of its own warplanes had accidentally hit the village of Petropavlovka in the Voronezh region at around 9 a.m. the day after New Year’s Day.
Video on social media showed a huge crater on the ground and debris, with six buildings reportedly damaged. The Russian MOD said that there had been an “emergency release of aviation munitions.” Regional governor Aleksandr Gusev said that, after the strike on Petropavlovka, some residents had to be moved to temporary housing.
After the incident, the British Ministry of Defense said that Russia’s munition accidents were probably “exacerbated by inadequate training and crew fatigue, leading to poor execution of tactics during missions.”
Voronezh lies some 280 miles south of Moscow and has faced numerous drone attacks believed to have come from Ukraine, including on January 16 when facilities including the nearby Baltimore military airfield had been targeted, according to military bloggers.
April 20, 2023
A Russian Sukhoi-Su 34 aircraft dropped a bomb on the city of Belgorod, whose location near the border with Ukraine has made it a repeated target for Kyiv.
However, this time, it was Russia responsible for a bomb landing in the center of the city on April 20, 2023. It caused a crater, shattered windows in neighboring buildings, knocked out power lines, and injured at least three people
Images posted on Telegram by the regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov showed the extent of the damage and debris covering the streets. A message said, “thank God there are no dead.” Russia’s MOD said the incident was due to an abnormal descent of aviation ammunition.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.