The Sound Of An Explosion Was Heard In Gomel

20.08.2026, 11:08
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Did fighter jets shoot down a drone?

Residents of Gomel are discussing on social media what happened early in the morning on August 20 in the city’s Central District, as noted by "Flagstok". According to user reports, around 5:25 a.m., they were awakened by unusual, very loud sounds in the sky. Based on eyewitness accounts, it can be assumed that the sound recorded was either a drone flying by and an explosion, or a fighter jet flying overhead.

“I was woken up by a terrifying crack and rumble,” “there was a sound, some kind of wild crack,” “a rumble rang out over the house”—this is how residents of Gomel describe what happened.

According to them, residents of buildings on Kozhara Street in Stary Aerodrom, as well as in neighboring Volotovo (microdistricts 17 and 18) and in Stara Volotovo, heard these sounds. Some users claim they recognized the sound as a fighter jet flying overhead.

It is noteworthy that the sound “like a scooter”—the characteristic noise of the “Geran-136,” the most common Russian-made strike UAV—which has become familiar in the Gomel region, was not recorded over the city that night.

At precisely that time, Russia’s massive air assault on Ukrainian territory was continuing. “Flagstok” analyzed reports from Ukrainian monitoring channels and the Ukrainian Air Force. There were no reports of UAV incursions into Belarusian territory, but it is known that Russian jet drones were flying along the Belarusian-Ukrainian border (from the Dobrush to the Bragino districts).

Another group of Russian jet drones moved along the border from approximately 4 to 5 a.m. At the same time, missiles were fired at Kyiv and Boryspil from the north and east.