As a result of the explosion of Russian ammunition in Belgorod, three people were injured: one refused to be hospitalized, one resident had a closed craniocerebral injury, a concussion, his life is not in danger, another elderly woman had high blood pressure, she was hospitalized. This was announced by the Governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov in his Telegram channel.
According to him, there were no deaths as a result of the explosions (Gladkov writes about the explosions in the plural). The governor does not name the cause of the explosion, does not mention the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and does not provide other details.
Gladkov said that on the evening of April 21, after the explosion, it was decided to resettle the inhabitants of the five-story building.
“Someone went to their relatives, everyone who had nowhere to go was settled in the Amaks hotel. Housing and food will be provided. Now the most important thing is to conduct a construction expertise of the supporting structures of this house and prepare design estimates in order to start restoration work as quickly as possible. These tasks have been set and are under control.”
On Saturday-Sunday, work is planned on the Gubkin-Vatutin road, according to Gladkov, it is necessary to remove the damaged canvas and cover the street with high-quality solid material. The main part of the work should be completed on Saturday and Sunday, the restoration work should be fully completed by Monday, the governor assured.
On the evening of April 21, social networks and the media reported that local residents in Belgorod had heard an explosion. A funnel formed at the intersection of Vatutin Avenue and Gubkin Street, the houses around were covered with asphalt, cars parked nearby were damaged, one of the cars was thrown onto the roof of Pyaterochka. Later, the Russian Ministry of Defense explained the incident as "an abnormal gathering of aviation ammunition." According to the agency, the "descent" occurred during the flight of the Su-34 VKS, an investigation is underway. As OSINT analyst Kirill Mikhailov told The Agency, a gliding high-explosive bomb equipped with a universal ammunition planning and correction module (UMPC) could have exploded in Belgorod. Russia has begun to actively use such ammunition in recent weeks, therefore, as with any new models of military equipment, emergency situations are inevitable, the analyst clarifies.
A day before the explosion in Belgorod, the following messages appeared in the propaganda Telegram channel “Zapiski Veteran”: “Nishtyak, the guys flew to make some movement. Fucking right now <…>. Haven't flown here in a while. On suspensions FAB 1500. <…> Donetsk, in Belgorod they don’t know what cons are. Let's give a hint?" The messages were later deleted.
After the explosion, messages appeared in the channel, allegedly talking about the use of air defense by Ukraine. “Well, thank God that it’s not in the house. As crests usually do it impotent from their air defense, ”said the propagandist. However, the Ministry of Defense has already acknowledged that the explosion occurred due to the gathering of Russian aviation ammunition.