Less common than ever before, errors in air power in the military have, of late, become a sobering pattern for the Russian air force. Collateral bombing and fired-at missiles are happening with routine regularity, not only on the Russian-Ukrainian border but within Russian-occupied territory as well. Beyond the instant damage, such mishaps show basic deficits in training, maintenance, and operating discipline within the armed forces.
One of the more recent events took place in February of 2025, when a Russian plane was reportedly dropped an X-59 missile near the village of Staroseltsevo within the Belgorod region. Authorities attributed it to a case of the missile “unexpectedly detaching,” stating there were no reported fatalities. But this was hardly a singular occurrence.
Independent monitoring groups have reported a chain of similar accidents in 2025 alone, including at least sixteen FAB bombs, two other missiles, and a UMPB-250 incorrectly dropped over Russian or Russian-held territory. The previous year’s numbers were worse, with over a hundred FAB bombs mistakenly dropped—evidence that this is not just bad luck.
The Belgorod province has suffered some of the worst of it. In May 2024, a FAB-500 half-ton bomb hit a residential area of civilians, demolishing thirty houses and injuring five people. Just a month earlier, a Kh-59 missile hit the city center in Belgorod, sending people into a state of worry but not resulting in any fatalities.
And back in January of this same year, two FAB-250 bombs dropped without warning, forcing some 150 locals to evacuate. Russian-occupied border villages were not exempted either. In Rubizhne, Luhansk, one of the stray explosions was near a railway station, adding to the sense of insecurity in an already war-scarred territory.
Western defense commentators were quick to weigh in on what these incidents illustrate. The British Ministry of Defence, in one of its releases, framed the problem as a symptom of Russia’s systemic weaknesses when it comes to the way it stocks ammunition.
Poor pre-flight procedures, careless or rushed bomb and missile handling, and fatigued crews are all contributing factors to the risk. Add to that the pressure of combat in a high-stress, protracted war, and the result is an armed force that too often cannot keep its own weapons in check.
The cotton civilians cannot be denied. Homes and cars have been destroyed, roads completely evacuated, and unexploded ordnance has required instant emergency demolitions on the spot. Citizens in the middle fear day and night—endangered not only by the wider war but also by the possibility of being accidentally hit by their own forces. For many, trust in the military’s ability to protect them has faltered with each successive fiasco.
Strategically, such mishaps erode the war effort of Moscow. Each lost bomb or missile is a waste of resources, and each civilian casualty fosters resentment. More importantly, they both send the message to the allies and Russia’s foes that Russia’s military machine is less disciplined and precise than touted to be.
Cumulatively, the serial bombing sorties and missile failures paint a portrait of a stretched force struggling to maintain order under the weight of a grinding conflict. What at first blush appears to be a set of unrelated blunders can better be defined as an outpouring of underlying flaws—deficiencies in training, fatigue within the ranks, and failures of safety procedures.
So long as all these issues are not addressed, the possibility of more “accidents” remains high, and not only do their effects remain on the battlefield, but also in ordinary people’s lives, far removed from the front.