Shafaq News/ A powerful explosion occurred in the Russian city of Belgorod near the Ukrainian border, injuring two civilians and causing damage to buildings and cars.

Initially, the explosion was blamed on a drone attack that the Russian authorities attributed to the Ukrainian military.

However, an hour later, the Russian Ministry of Defense admitted that a Su-34 fighter jet had mistakenly fired a bomb, causing the explosion. The ministry did not provide any details about the incident, but experts speculated that the bomb could have weighed 500 kilograms.

Belgorod, a city of 340,000 people, has been under regular drone attacks since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. Although Ukrainian authorities have not claimed responsibility for the attacks, Russia has accused them of being behind them.

Thursday's explosion shook nearby residential buildings and shattered windows, leaving a 20-meter-wide hole and damaging several cars, including one that landed on the roof of a nearby shop. Two people were injured, and a third was hospitalized due to high blood pressure.

Initially, some Russian commentators and bloggers called for retaliation against Ukraine, but the Russian Ministry of Defense's admission that the explosion was caused by a mistake by one of its fighter jets seemed to have defused the situation.

The increase in Russian military flights during the fighting has led to a rise in crashes and misfires. In October, a Russian warplane crashed next to a residential building in the port city of Yeysk on the Sea of Azov, killing 15 people. Yeysk hosts a big Russian air base with warplanes that fly missions over Ukraine.

In another deadly incident in the Belgorod region, two volunteer soldiers fired at Russian troops at a military firing range, killing 11 and wounding 15 others before being shot dead.