The defence ministry in Moscow says a Russian fighter jet accidentally bombed the city of Belgorod near the border with Ukraine.

Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the blast had left a huge crater about 20 metres (60 ft) wide in the city centre.

Two women were injured and several buildings were damaged, he said.

A Su-34 fighter-bomber jet accidentally discharged aircraft ordnance, the ministry said.

The incident took place at 22:15 local time (19:15 GMT) on Thursday, Russian news agencies said. An investigation is under way.

Photos and videos on social media show apartments damaged by the blast, while one image appears to a show a car on the roof of a building.

Belgorod - a city of 370,000 - is around 25 miles (40 km) from the Ukrainian border. It lies just north of Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, and people there have been living in fear of Ukrainian shelling since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year.

Russian jets also regularly fly over the city on their way to Ukraine. (BBC)