Thousands of Russians Evacuated After Second Bomb Found in Belgorod

Thousands of residents have been evacuated after a second bomb that didn't explode was found in the Russian city of Belgorod on Saturday near an area where another bomb accidently fell earlier this week.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on his Telegram account that 3,000 residents in 17 apartment buildings were evacuated in the region after the bomb, which Gladkov and the Russian news agency TASS referred to as an "explosive object," was found where the first explosion happened on Thursday.

"Additional information on the emergency at Shalandin Street, 15. Sappers found an explosive object. Explosive technicians of the Russian Defense Ministry decided to disarm it at the range. Operational headquarters decided to evacuate 17 apartment buildings within a radius of 200 meters. According to preliminary data, this is more than 3,000 people," Gladkov wrote Saturday. "To ensure safety, we will take people to temporary accommodation centers, where there is everything you need, from water to hot meals. All houses from which we will take out residents will be under police protection."

The Thursday explosion happened due to an "emergency" release of air ordnance while a Russian Su-34 aircraft, a twin-engine fighter-bomber, was flying over Belgorod, which is located around 24 miles north of the Ukrainian border, according to CNN.

"At around 22:15 Moscow time on April 20, when a Su-34 plane of the Russian Aerospace Forces was performing a flight above the city of Belgorod, an emergency release of an air ordnance occurred," TASS reported, citing Russia's Defense Ministry.

The Thursday blast left two people injured, according to Gladkov on Telegram. Meanwhile, Belgorod Mayor Valentin Demidov said that several apartment buildings were damaged, CNN reported.

A video posted to Twitter by Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian minister of internal affairs, showed Russian law enforcement on the ground responding to the site where the second bomb was found. The video also showed blocked roads and cars stuck in traffic.

"It seems Russians have started a counteroffensive against themselves," he tweeted on Saturday.

Other social media users who have posted videos and photos of the situation in Belgorod criticized the Russian army's performance in the ongoing war in Ukraine, where the battle between Ukrainian and Russian troops extended through major cities, including Kyiv, Kherson, Odessa, and Bakhmut. Meanwhile, Western nations have been supplying Ukraine with military and humanitarian aid to help the war-torn country defeat Moscow.

"The level of Russian military incompetence is simply astounding. ANOTHER huge bomb found in downtown Belgorod, population 400K. Dropped by Russian Air Force jet. #StandWithUkraine," Twitter user @InRodWeTrustMTL wrote. Belgorod has a population of 413,000 as of 2023, according to Macro Trends, a 0.72 percent increase from last year.

Meanwhile, Twitter user @MarcBogaert2 wrote: "They're moving 3000 russians because a russian plane lost another bomb but they'll claim Ukraine has been bombing Belgorod for 8 days and 3000 russians have disappeared?"

Belgorod has been rocked with explosions and mysterious fires throughout Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, with local authorities regularly reporting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the area.

In January, a Russian sergeant set off a grenade at his unit in the Belgorod region's Korochansky District to "establish authority," causing an explosion that killed three soldiers and injured 16 others. Russian emergency services told the state-run news agency Interfax that the sergeant accidentally detonated a hand grenade, which caused ammunition to blow up and start a fire.

Newsweek reached out by email to the Russian defense ministry for comment.