Putin humiliated as one of his own war jets accidentally bombs Russian city

Video footage shows the explosion causing the surface of a road to erupt into the air, leaving a 70-foot crater behind.

A car was also sent flying by the bombing, landing on the roof of a nearby shop.

Two women were reportedly wounded in the blast, with one being rushed to hospital with head wounds.

In a statement, Putin's Ministry of Defence said: "During the flight of a Su-34 aircraft of the Aerospace Forces over the city of Belgorod an abnormal descent of aviation ammunition occurred."

Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov declared a state of emergency following the explosion, he said: "An investigation team and employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations are working on the spot."

Journalist Dmitry Kolezev reported: "It was miraculous no one died - at least according to official figures.

"Apparently, the ministry decided that admitting self-bombing is better than admitting that the Armed Forces of Ukraine can inflict such powerful strikes on Russian cities."

The bomb is believed to have been a modernised FAB-500M62 Soviet-designed 500kg general-purpose air-dropped bomb with a high-explosive warhead - but the Kremlin have not confirmed what kind of weapon was used.

The supposedly "high precision" weapon has been used to strike targets in Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February last year.

However, the Su-34 which has reportedly been rushed into service in the war, are liable to errors.

Belgorod is around 25 miles from the Ukrainian frontier, and just 50 miles away from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.

Su-34s are seen as Russia's "frontline bomber," but predictions imply that around ten per cent of them have been lost during the war.

In October last year, 15 people were killed after a Su-34 fighter bomber smashed into an apartment building in the Russian city of Yeysk.

Less than a week later, a similar Su-30 military plane crashed into a house in Irkutsk.