"To bomb Voronezh"[a] (Russian: Бомбить Воронеж, romanized: Bombit' Voronezh) is a Russian-language internet meme and political idiom, referring to self-destructive actions by the Russian regime that harm the population, akin to the English "cutting off one's nose to spite one's face".
[2] The earliest iterations of the meme came in the aftermath of the Russo-Georgian War, when Russian authorities allocated large amounts of money to reconstruct destroyed cities of South Ossetia.
Better bomb Voronezh, that way we'll actually get normal roads.According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, this story is probably a myth, since no records of the statement actually exist.
[3] The earliest references to the meme date back to August 2008, when a LiveJournal user referenced a similar joke supposedly made by "the residents of Voronezh", with no mention of a government official.
[4][3] Similar exchanges of mutual sanctions occurred after Russia's annexation of Crimea, hurting ordinary Russian consumers.