Reports from Russian state media indicate that a Russian Su-34 fighter jet crashed to the east of the Black Sea, leading to the tragic loss of its crew members.
According to Kremlin-backed media citing the Moscow Defense Ministry, the crash occurred during a flight training session in North Ossetia-Alania, a small Russian republic near Georgia’s border.
The Russian news agency RIA Novosti confirmed that the two crew members aboard the aircraft perished in the crash, which was attributed to a “technical failure” that caused the plane to go down in a deserted area.
Over the past couple of years, Russia has heavily relied on its Su-34 fighter-bomber all-weather supersonic aircraft for various operations, notably in Ukraine. Unfortunately, Moscow has experienced a number of non-combat-related losses, largely due to technical malfunctions.
In a similar incident back in mid-September 2023, a Su-34 plane crashed during a training mission near Russia’s Voronezh, which borders the Luhansk Region of eastern Ukraine. Fortunately, the two crew members on board managed to survive by escaping before the crash, which was once again attributed to a “technical failure.”
An October 2022 tragedy saw a Su-34 aircraft crash into a residential area in Yeysk in the southern Krasnodar Region, resulting in the loss of 15 lives. Russian media, citing security services, reported that the accident was caused by two seagulls being sucked into one of the plane’s engines during takeoff, igniting a fire.
Footage near the scene of the accident captured the plane engulfed in flames before colliding with an apartment building, casting thick smoke into the air.
Notably, since February 20, 2022, other accidents involving Russian aircraft have occurred. In one instance, a Russian Su-30 crashed during a training mission in Kaliningrad on August 20, 2023, resulting in the loss of two crew members due to an unspecified technical failure in an uninhabited area.
Similarly, another Su-30 crash tragically claimed the lives of two crew members as the aircraft collided with a home in Irkutsk, Siberia, on October 20, 2022.