In what is becoming a bit of a regular occurrence, a Russian plane has dropped a bomb on a city held by occupying Russian forces.

The latest incident occurred on Monday when a Kremlin aircraft flying over the city of Rubizhne in the Luhansk region accidentally discharged a FAB-250 bomb.

In a long-held tradition of using euphemisms to play down embarrassing episodes, Leonid Pasichnyk, the leader of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic, said: “During the execution of combat missions by an aircraft of the Air and Space Forces of the Russian Federation over the city of Rubizhne, an unscheduled landing of FAB-250 aviation munitions took place.”

Pasichnyk said there were no casualties but people in buildings near to where the bomb was dropped had been evacuated.

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A similar incident occurred just last week when a Russian jet accidentally dropped its payload on the village of Petropavlovsk in the Russian region of Voronezh region, damaging several private homes.

Again, Russian authorities reported the incident in euphemistic terms, saying: “On January 2, 2024, at around 9 am Moscow time (06:00 GMT), during a flight of the Aerospace Forces, an abnormal discharge of aircraft ammunition occurred over the village of Petropavlovsk.”

Another variation of the phrase was also used in April of last year when a Russian bomb hit a street in the Russian city of Belgorod, leaving a giant crater in a road and damaging several residential buildings.

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Kallas said that training Ukraine’s forces on their territory would not be escalatory, adding that “Russia’s propaganda is about being at war with NATO; they don’t need an excuse.”

Russia’s defense ministry said at the time: “During the flight of the Su-34 aircraft of the aerospace forces over the city of Belgorod, an abnormal descent of aviation ammunition has occurred.”

Elsewhere in Belgorod, Ukrainian forces are also wreaking havoc – a “complex mission” conducted by Ukrainian special forces destroyed two Russian anti-aircraft systems in the Belgorod region on Saturday.

The Kremlin has tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy on the home front, but recent deadly strikes on Belgorod have brought the Ukraine conflict closer to Russians.

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But on Monday authorities announced they have evacuated around 300 residents from the city of Belgorod.

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