Russian Air Force Mistakenly Bombs Russia For Fourth Time This Month

The reasons for this spate of mistaken bombings are reported to be poor training, fatigue among overworked air maintenance and flight crews - and, perhaps most importantly given that Ukraine shot down yet another Russian plane two days ago - pilot fears leading them to drop ordnance early to avoid Ukrainian air defense targeting. JL 

Thibault Spirlet reports in Business Insider:

A Russian plane accidentally dropped two bombs on Russian territory, marking the fourth time it's happened this month. In the latest incident, a Russian aircraft discharged two FAB-250 bombs in the Belgorod region. One hit a farm in Postnikov and another struck an urban street in Streletskaya, prompting the evacuation of 150 residents. the incidents were likely caused by a combination of faulty procedures for arming aircraft prior to flights, poor mission execution by aircrew, and crew fatigue. "The increasing frequency of these occurrences demonstrates air and ground crew fatigue and inadequate training."

A Russian plane accidentally dropped two bombs on Russian territory, according to UK intelligence, marking the fourth time it's happened this month.

The UK Ministry of Defence highlighted the incidents in an intelligence update on Tuesday, citing a report by the independent Telegram news channel Astra.

According to the report, a Russian aircraft discharged two FAB-250 bombs in the Belgorod region last Saturday. One hit a farm in Postnikov and another struck an urban street in Streletskaya, prompting the evacuation of about 150 residents living close by, per the outlet.

No injuries were reported, and the bombs were defused on Sunday, it said.

 

This is the fourth such incident this month and the fifth over the last 12 months, the MOD said.

The first incident in 2024 took place on January 2, when a Russian warplane accidentally discharged a munition that damaged nine residential properties in Petropavlovka, in Russia's Voronezh Oblast, the MOD wrote in an intelligence update at the time.

Less than a week later, on January 8, Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, said a plane dropped a FAB-250 bomb on the eastern town of Rubizhne, which is located in Russia-occupied Luhansk.

At the time, the MOD said munition accidents were likely caused by inadequate training and crew fatigue, leading to poor execution of tactics during missions.

 

On Tuesday, it said that the incidents were likely caused by a combination of faulty procedures for arming aircraft prior to flights, poor mission execution by aircrew, and crew fatigue.

"The increasing frequency of these occurrences likely demonstrates a degree of air and ground crew fatigue within the Russian front line, as well as exposing inadequate training," the MOD said.

Russia experienced similar blunders last year, including shooting down one of its prized Su-35 fighter jets in October, bombing the Russia-occupied settlement of Nova Kakhovka in September, and striking the Russian border city of Belgorod in April.