The bombs do not always fall where they should, and in the case of Russia, the enemy is not just Ukraine. Part of its own air weapons has become an internal threat. According to reports collected by the Independent Russian environment Astra, Since the beginning of 2024 there have been more than 160 accidental bombings in areas under Russian control, both within Ukraine and in territory of the Russian Federation itself. The figure does not stop growing: only until June of this year, 94 incidents have already been recorded.
Among all of them, one that has especially caught the attention recently occurred, in Novaya Olenivka, where A FAB-500 bomb fell on a residential area, which caused important damage to at least four homes.
This type of pump (FAB-500) are characterized by being free fall, and with its 500 kgare originally designed for large -scale attacks. Its explosive load includes up to 300 kg of TNT and a thick steel body that, when it explodes, becomes a shrapnel. The impact is devastating, especially if it falls in inhabited areas.
However, what multiplies its destructive power is the incorporation of the UMPK modules (unique planning and correction set), an adaptation that allows these pumps to be launched from greater distania and reach their objective accurately thanks to satellite and inertial navigation.
Is Guided versions make the FAB-500and also to larger models such as FAB-1500 or the FAB-3000, in precision ammunition comparable to Americans JDAM-ER.
Thus, for months, the massive use of these guided bombs provided Russia with a significant advantage in the front, especially when used from SU-34 fighters, capable of operating outside the reach of Ukrainian defenses. However, that same weapon, qualified by some analysts such as the “Russian miracle”, It has generated an increasingly difficult internal problem to ignore.
Navigation errors, module failures or simply technical problems are causing these pumps not to always end where they should. The result? Explosions on civil areas or own positions. A phenomenon that, according to military sources cited by Astrait has become too frequent.
The question is now, why now occurs more frequently than before. Well, to respond to this, you have to rescue several details. First, one that caught the attention of the observers: Russia began to considerably reduce the use of guided bombs in early 2025.
In this sense, Military analyst Jaroslaw Wolski pointed out several possible causes: From the reduction in the number of aircraft available to logistics problems with the manufacture of UMPK modules. In the same way, we must not forget another factor that could also have influenced: the strengthening of Ukrainian defenses, thanks the arrival of F-16 fighters and interference electronic systems that hinder the guided of this type of ammunition.
And meanwhile, errors do not stopand each new accidental bombing shows that Russia’s most lethal weapons can also be, paradoxically, a threat to its own population.
