Russian glide bombs often hit own territory, say experts – WP

The Washington Post writes about it.

Powerful glide bombs that Russia uses against Ukrainian cities also frequently hit Russian soil. An internal document obtained by the Washington Post shows that at least 38 bombs crashed into Russia's Belgorod region from April 2023 to April 2024, though most did not explode.

These bombs, retrofitted with guidance systems, are similar to American JDAM bombs but often fail. Experts say this leads to frequent misfires. The bombs were mainly discovered by civilians, and the Russian Defense Ministry was often unaware of the launches.

Four bombs fell on Belgorod city, with seven in nearby suburbs and eleven in the Graivoron border region. One bomb created a 65-foot-wide crater in Belgorod in April 2023, causing significant damage but no casualties.

Local authorities tend to downplay or misattribute these incidents, often blaming Ukrainian shelling. A May 4 explosion in Belgorod injured seven people and damaged over 30 houses, yet officials remained vague about the cause. Another blast on May 12 killed 17 people, with conflicting reports about whether a Ukrainian missile or a Russian bomb was to blame.

Experts from the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) estimate that Russia has accidentally dropped over 100 bombs on its own territory in recent months. They attribute this to unreliable UMPK kits used to retrofit old Soviet-era bombs.

"A certain percentage of Russian bombs is defective. This problem has existed since they started using these UMPK kits," said Ruslan Leviev, a CIT military expert. "Only a fraction of these bombs fail, so it doesn’t affect the practical effectiveness of this weapon, no matter how cynical that may sound."

The faulty bombs rarely detonate upon impact, suggesting a failsafe system. Despite these issues, Russia continues to produce and deploy these weapons, even developing a new, heavier version, the FAB-3000, and misfires are already being reported – on June 29 one crashed into an empty field near Shebekino and exploded.

The Russian government has not commented on the document or the reports of failed bombs.