Putin red-faced as Russia drops 40 'mega bombs' on its own cities

Vladimir Putin red-faced as Russian air force drops 40 mega bombs on its own cities

Vladimir Putin is facing embarrassment as official Kremlin documents reveal that Russian warplanes have mistakenly dropped nearly 40 deadly glide bombs on their own cities, in what has been a damaging 24 hours for Russia.

These hefty bombs, packed with up to 500 kg of explosives, are capable of creating massive craters 20 metres deep and six metres across.

They've wreaked havoc in Ukrainian urban areas and military frontlines, causing significant destruction and casualties.

However, a report by Belgorod city officials from the emergency services department notes 38 instances from April 2023 to April 2024 where Russian pilots inadvertently bombed their own cities with these dangerous weapons. The misdirected bombings are thought to result from faulty ammunition and inadequate maintenance.

Ruslan Leviev, a military analyst with the Conflict Intelligence Group, shared with the Washington Post: "A certain percentage of Russian bombs is defective."

He added, "We think these accidental releases are caused by the unreliability of these kits, something that does not seem to bother the Air Force."

A glide bomb is created by attaching fold-out wings and satellite navigation to old Soviet bombs, which are plentiful. Models such as the FAB 500 and FAB 1500 exist, and a new three-tonne bomb was used for the first time on a village in the Kharkiv region in June.

With the addition of pop-out wings, these bombs can glide for 50 to 70 kilometres at high speeds, allowing Russian aircraft to deploy them while staying out of reach of Ukrainian air defences.

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Russian forces have reportedly used bombs to break through Ukrainian defensive positions and make territorial gains in the east. A recent report by the Centre for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) stated that these were decisive in the capture of the key eastern town of Avdiivka in February.

There have been several reports of Russian munitions landing in the Belgorod region. On May 12, an explosion caused a partial collapse of a Belgorod apartment building, resulting in 17 fatalities.

The Kremlin attributed this to a Ukrainian missile, but OSINT researchers concluded it was a Russian bomb. Independent Russian media outlet Astra's researchers estimate that as many as 119 bombs have been dropped in Russia and the occupied territories of Ukraine over the past four months.

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