Russian planes drop two air bombs in Belgorod region

Once again, Russian aircraft dropped two FAB-250 bombs in the Belgorod Oblast, Russia.

A FAB-250 bomb was found in the village of Postnyky in the Korochanskyi district on January 27,  Rubryka reports, citing the Russian ASTRA publication. Residents were not evacuated.

On the same day, another bomb was found in the village of Striletske in the Belgorod district. "The bomb was found on Lesovaya Street," the report said.

The authorities decided to evacuate about 150 people living within a radius of 500 meters from the bomb site. Both bombs were defused the next day. No civilians were harmed.

This is not the first case, as ASTRA claims. On January 21, one of the bombs also fell near the village of Ionivka, damaging the local dam.

How does Russian aviation "lose" its own projectiles?

On January 2, Russian aviation dropped a missile on the village of Petropavlivka in the Voronezh Oblast, confirmed by the Russian Ministry of Defense. A local resident said in a video that an entire street was damaged due to the explosion.

Recently, a bomb also fell on the occupied city of Rubizhne in the Luhansk region. Both incidents occurred during Russian combat sorties.

Earlier, in April 2023, a Russian Su-34 aircraft dropped a bomb on Belgorod. At that time, Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat did not rule out that Russia might start regularly attacking Ukraine with 1500-kilogram guided bombs. Such bombs strike from a distance of 50 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

According to Ihnat, to shoot down aircraft dropping such bombs, Ukraine needs Patriot, SAMP-T systems, and modern aircraft such as the F-16.

However, like any Russian weapon, it is not entirely perfect; FABs often fall on Russian territory without reaching their destination in Ukraine.

British intelligence explained why the Russian military periodically dropped bombs on their own cities:

"Russia's constant propensity for ammunition incidents is likely exacerbated by insufficient crew training and fatigue, resulting in poor execution of tactical tasks during missions," British analysts said.