In a video circulating on social media, Vladimir Putin’s pilots are seen embarrassingly missing their target as they attempt to bomb a building where Ukrainian-backed forces settled in the Belgorod region.
Two Su-34 fighter jets are seen flying at an ultra-low altitude to drop high-explosive free-falling bombs but blatantly missing the target.
Ukrainian-backed forces have settled at the Grayvoron border checkpoint in the Belgorod region since earlier this week.
While Grayvoron is located six miles inside Russia, the checkpoint itself is right on the border with Ukraine.
The town in Russia’s Belgorod region, about 7 kilometres (more than 4 miles) from the Ukrainian border, came under fire for several hours, damaging four houses, a store, a car, a gas pipeline and a power line, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported.
Earlier this week, the Belgorod region was the target of one of the most serious cross-border attacks from Ukraine since the war began 15 months ago. Details of the raid were murky. Russia blamed the Ukrainian armed forces, but two Russian groups said they were involved, with the aim of bringing down Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Officials in Russia’s southern city of Krasnodar, in the region of the same name bordering Crimea, said two drones struck there. Witnesses told local media they heard something like the sound of a moped and then two explosions.
The blasts smashed a hole in the roof of one building and blew out windows in an apartment building.
Krasnodar regional Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev wrote on Telegram that there were no casualties and that some buildings were damaged but essential infrastructure was unharmed.
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Krasnodar Mayor Yevgeny Naumov said a residential building and an office building were damaged.
Drone attacks against Russian border regions have been a regular occurrence since the start of the invasion in February 2022, with attacks increasing last month. Earlier this month, an oil refinery in Krasnodar was attacked by drones on two straight days.
At a meeting in Estonia, German and Baltic leaders played down concerns about fighting spilling over into Russia.
“Russia attacked Ukraine, and so Ukraine can defend itself,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “It is clear that the weapons we have delivered will only be used on Ukrainian territory.”
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas noted that “Ukraine does not have any wish to invade Russia,” and Lithuanian Prime Minster Ingrida Simonyte added: “I’m somewhat puzzled by the worry of Russia, because Russia is at war -– so it’s quite strange to think that the war can only be in that other territory that you invaded.”
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry on Thursday published video that appeared to show a marine drone heading for Russia’s Ivan Khurs reconnaissance ship in the Black Sea. The video didn’t show the drone hitting the ship.
The video followed reports by Russia’s Defence Ministry on Wednesday that Ukraine had launched an unsuccessful attack on the Ivan Khurs using three unmanned speedboats, with all three destroyed prior to reaching the ship. Moscow released video allegedly showing the destruction of one of the marine drones.
Late Friday, officials in the Russian-held sector of Donetsk reported two missile strikes on the city of Mariupol, where a monthslong siege early in the war left much of the city in ruins.
Russia’s state news agency Tass cited an unnamed official as saying the missiles were long-range Storm Shadows, which the United Kingdom delivered to Ukraine this month.