After Russia bombs own city near Ukrainian border, explosive found at same site

Seventeen apartment buildings were evacuated on Saturday in a Russian city near the Ukrainian border after an explosive device was found at the site where a bomb accidentally dropped by a Russian warplane caused a powerful blast this week authorities saidThe bomb blast late on Thursday rocked part of Belgorod leaving a large crater and three people injured The Russian Defence Ministry quickly acknowledged that a weapon accidentally released by one of its own Su34 bombers caused the explosionThe ministry said an investigation was underway but did not elaborate on the details of the weapon which military experts said likely was a powerful 500kilogram 1100pound bombThe governor of Belgorod province Vyacheslav Gladkov reported Saturday that sappers examining the site of Thursdays blast found and decided to detonate what he called an explosive object that was in the immediate vicinity of residential buildingsThe precautionary evacuations ended later in the day according to Belgorod Mayor Valentin DemidovThe bomb was removed from the residential area Residents are being delivered back to their homes Demidov wrote on Telegram Russian authorities did not say if the detonated device was dropped by accident on Thursday and if so if it was a remnant of or separate from the bomb that exploded in the cityBelgorod located about 40 kilometers 25 miles east of the RussiaUkraine border has faced regular drone attacks since Russia sent troops into Ukraine last year Russian authorities have blamed those strikes on the Ukrainian military which refrained from directly claiming responsibility for the attacksAlso read NATO chief in Kyiv for first time since Russian invasionLate Saturday the governor of the Kharkiv region Oleh Syniehubov said five missiles fired from the Belgorod area hit the region including one that struck unspecified civilian infrastructure in the capital city KharkivMoscows invasion of Ukraine has sent relations with the West into deep freeze with frequent expulsions of diplomats on both sidesOn Saturday the Russian Foreign Ministry said that German authorities had decided on another mass expulsion of employees of Russian diplomatic missions in GermanyA ministry statement said that as a reaction to the hostile actions of Berlin Russia decided to mirror the expulsions by Germany and significantly limit the maximum number of staff at German diplomatic missions in RussiaForeign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Russia is expelling more than 20 German diplomats Russian state media reported but didnt give a precise numberGermanys Foreign Ministry said it took note of the comments It said that the German government and Russia had been in contact in recent weeks on questions regarding the staffing of the respective diplomatic missions and that a flight on Saturday took place in that context It didnt elaborateThe German air force said earlier that a Russian plane flew to Berlin with diplomatic clearance on Saturday but didnt specify who or what was on board Special clearance is required because the European Union closed its airspace to Russian aircraft shortly after the war in Ukraine startedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever