A Russian warplane accidentally dropped a bomb on one of its own cities, the Russian defence ministry said on Friday. The blast wounded three people and spread panic in a major city along the border with Ukraine.

Reports first came in on Thursday night that an explosion had ripped through central Belgorod, a southern Russian city of 400,000 just across the border with Ukraine. Widely circulated video footage showed a burst of smoke and flames near an intersection that cars were passing through, sending one parked vehicle twirling through the air.

Suspicion initially fell on Ukraine: Since the beginning of the war last year, the Russian authorities have blamed Kyiv for a string of covert attacks on railway bridges and other strategic targets in Belgorod. The attacks have put Belgorod on edge; some residents have said that they’re worried the Ukrainians might even invade.

But on Friday morning, the Russian defence ministry released a statement saying that the explosion was caused by “an accidental discharge of aviation ammunition” by a Russian fighter jet flying over Belgorod at around 10pm on Thursday. The jet was identified as a Su-34.

New York Times News Service