Ground-to-air missiles do not carry large explosive warheads, depending mainly on their speed to collide with the body of aircraft and helicopters, ignite the aircraft’s fuel or cause them to be so unstable as they break pieces of the plane. that crash.
In this case, the big bang was probably caused by the rocket’s unspent fuel.
It is not known what caused the missile to malfunction and return to its launch point or whether there were casualties from the incident.
In another incident, a Russian Il-76 transport plane on a flight to supply Vladimir Putin’s war effort exploded in flames in the air before crashing shortly after taking off from the city. of Ryazan, near Moscow.
Early reports said an engine fire caused the crash, which killed four of the nine crew on board.