The actions of Vladimir Putin‘s pilots were mocked as “unprofessional” after they dropped once again a bomb on Russia by mistake.
The Ukrainian government media channel, United24 Media, wrote on the Telegram messaging platform on July 2: “In Belgorod, a powerful impact of an FAB-300 bomb occurred due to the unprofessional actions of Russian pilots.”
The post also featured a nine-second-long video showing a thick plume of smoke rising from the ground a few miles away from where the clip was recorded.
Belgorod is a region in western Russia bordering Ukraine. Due to its location, it has endured Ukrainian fire and a series of incursions led by Russian rebels – as well as the accidental bombing of Russian pilots.
Putin’s pilots dropped at least 38 unguided bombs over the Russian territory between April 2023 and 2024, according to an internal Russian document cited by the Washington Post.
Most of the bombs failed to detonate – with the notable exception of the one dropped on Belgorod city on April 21 last year. The massive blast injured two women and left a massive crater in the city, while the shockwave created by the explosion damaged four apartments and cars and downed power line poles.
The bombings are believed to be caused by “unreliable” kits and poor maintenance.
Astra, an independent Russian news outlet which has been monitoring closely these incidents, recently claimed the Russian Air Force has been involved in more than 100 accidental bombings on its own territory in the past four months.
In the past few days alone, Russian bombers dropped five munitions of various capacities – including the devastating FAB-3000 – on the Belgorod region.
The Kremlin-leaning Telegram channel Baza wrote on the platform that the “first FAB-1500 ammunition was discovered on the morning of June 28” near the village of Krutoy Log, a finding quickly followed by two FAB-500 aerial bombs in the Shebekinsky urban district and a fourth located once again near Krutoy Log.
Finally, parts of a FAB-3000 ammunition were found near the village of Maslova Pristan.