Russian Air Force unintentionally detonated a bomb on its own turf on Thursday night, precisely in the city of Belgorod, which caused buildings to vibrate, tossed a car on a roof and left people injured.

“At around 22:15 Moscow time on April 20, when a Su-34 plane of the Russian Aerospace Forces was performing a flight above the city of Belgorod, an emergency release of an air ordnance occurred,” Russian defense ministry admitted in a statement to TASS.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov provided more details in a Telegram message: “It happened at the intersection of one of the central streets, leaving a huge impact crater with a radius of 20 meters.” 

Belgorod, a city close to Kharkiv in Ukraine, has frequently been the target of rocket attacks by the Ukrainian military. Prior to the Russian defense ministry taking credit and admitting it was an error, locals had initially believed the explosion to be another Ukrainian strike.

Mr Gladkov said three people sustained injuries from the explosion but added that the wounds were not life-threatening.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine over the latter’s intention to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) more than a year ago, all attempts by other nations to intervene and end the war, so far, have reached an impasse.