Russian media channel Astra reported on its Telegram channel on Tuesday that the Lancet kamikaze drone was dropped on the territory of a kindergarten in the village of Oktyabrsky, Belgorod region. The drone did not explode, and 47 children and 30 kindergarten workers were evacuated from the area by security forces.
A number of incidents have been reported this year where the Russian military has accidentally dropped ammunition and missiles on its territory. Astra has previously reported that in March and April alone, Moscow forces mistakenly dropped at least 21 aerial bombs from their planes on Russian territory or occupied Ukrainian territories.
On Thursday, The Moscow Times reported that since the beginning of spring, Russian planes have dropped at least 25 aerial bombs on its territory or on territory that Putin has declared annexed from Ukraine. Since January, there have been 33 such incidents, according to the publication.
Russian authorities generally acknowledge that munitions are dropped on its territory, but tend to cover up these incidents. They say there was an “unusual discharge of ammunition,” notes Astra.
The Belgorod region is close to the border with Ukraine and is home to several Russian military bases and training grounds. Explosions have rocked the region throughout Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and local authorities have regularly reported drones.
Just a few days ago, on May 4, open intelligence sources and pro-Ukraine media claimed that the munitions were dropped on Belgorod by mistake by a Russian aircraft carrying out guided missile strikes aimed at Kharkiv.
The controlled bomb “fell directly in the residential sector and exploded,” Anton Gerashchenko, a former adviser to Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, said of the incident.
And on Tuesday, a Russian plane dropped a bomb on the village of Vorontsovka in Russia’s Krasnodar region, Astra reported, as cited by Newsweek.
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