Russia has accidentally dropped at least 25 glide bombs on its own territory and within occupied Ukraine this year, British military officials said in their latest assessment of the conflict in Ukraine.
One glide bomb struck a home in the Russian region of Belgorod on May 16 that resulted in at least one fatality.
Russian forces last year dropped 143 glide bombs that struck targets inside friendly territory and 165 the year before, British forces said Wednesday, citing the independent Russian news agency Astra.
Russia’s air force conducts more than 200 fighter sorties per day, averaging 180-250 daily launches of glide munitions depending on weather conditions, the analysts said.
To counter Ukrainian air defenses, Russia has added wings and satellite guidance systems to its standard, unguided aerial bombs that allow them to be launched from within its own territory.
“However, due to the imperfections of the system, the bombs do not always reach their targets and fall on Russian territory,” according to the report by Astra.
British military officials said the practice illustrates Russia’s inability to deploy glide munitions against their intended targets, which have “destructive and lethal consequences” for the Russian population.
“Such incidents likely occur due to a combination of poor procedures when arming the aircraft prior to sorties, and poor execution by aircrew during missions,” U.K. defense ministry officials said.
Russian officials are concealing the growing problem from the public. When civilians are among those injured by Russian bombs, they claim that Ukraine caused the attacks, Astra reported.
“The frequency of these occurrences likely demonstrates a degree of air and ground fatigue within the Russian force, as well as exposing inadequate military training,” British officials said.
