The glider bombs with which Russia bombarded Ukrainian cities regularly fell on the territory of Russia itself.
This is stated in an internal Russian document accessed by The Washington Post (WP) journalists.
The document was intercepted by Ukrainian intelligence. It contains a table of incidents with references to bomb disposal and evacuation orders. It was probably formed by the emergency management of the city of Belgorod.
According to this document, at least 38 bombs fell in the Belgorod region between April 2023 and April 2024, although most of them did not explode.
Most of the bombs were found by civilians — foresters, farmers or residents of the surrounding villages. In most cases, the Russian Ministry of Defense did not know when the bombs were launched, so some of them could lie there for several days.
At least four bombs out of 38 fell on the city of Belgorod itself. Another seven were found in the surrounding suburbs. The largest number — 11 — fell in the border region of Graivoronsk, and some of them could not be found there due to the "difficult operational situation." In several cases described in the document, it was about FAB-500 bombs.
Russiaʼs ASTRA has confirmed that many of the incidents described in the document match information it has received from local authorities and local media reports. According to media estimates, only in March-June of this year, the Russian Federation dropped at least 119 bombs on its own and occupied territories of Ukraine.