As Russia continues to investigate the accidental launch by a Russian plane of a missile that fell in Belgorod, one of the Russian regions close to Ukraine that has regularly suffered sporadic attacks launched from Ukrainian territory, security camera footage has been released showing the moment of impact and the subsequent explosion of the projectile, which left three injured and caused social alarm among the local population.
According to the images, ammunition from a Russian Sukhoi Su-34 two-seater fighter-bomber plane hit between two parked cars, next to a busy street, in a residential neighborhood and near buildings. Despite the fact that the fall of the missile caused smoke and a power outage, the vehicles continued to circulate. It was a few minutes after ten o'clock last Thursday night.
Specifically, up to five cars circulated on the road lane closest to the impact site, until the last one, which slowed down, was hit by the missile explosion, which occurred about 25 seconds after the impact. The recording shows how the ground rose due to the detonation of the bomb, which left a crater 20 meters in diameter.
One woman suffered abrasions and was treated by the health services at the scene, while another suffered head trauma, for which she had to be hospitalized. A third woman was also injured without further details being known, Belgorod Oblast Governor Viacheslav Gladkov said.
The explosion of the projectile, whose type has not been specified by the Russian Ministry of Defense, also affected several residential buildings, cars and power line poles in the center of the regional capital. A car was blown up and landed on the roof of a nearby shop, Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Anton Geraschenko said.
Ukraine claims that the missile was aimed at Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine and a constant target of Russian bombing since the start of the war, and that the error could be due to a failure of the Russian GLONASS satellite navigation system. "There is no guarantee that this situation will not repeat itself," Geraschenko lamented.
Defense added that an investigation has been launched to clarify the causes of the incident, which recalls the accident suffered in October by an Su-34 fighter that caused 16 deaths when it crashed into a building in the south of the country.
