A Russian Su-34 warplane has crashed east of the Black Sea, killing its crew members, according to Russian state media.
The jet crashed into a mountain during a training flight in Russia's North Ossetia-Alania, a small Russian republic on the border with Georgia, Kremlin-backed media reported on Tuesday, citing Moscow's Defense Ministry.
The two crew members onboard were killed, according to Russia's RIA Novosti news agency. The aircraft suffered a "technical malfunction," news agencies in the country reported, adding the jet came down in a "deserted area."
Russia has extensively used its Su-34 all-weather supersonic fighter-bomber aircraft in operations against Ukraine during the more than two years of war in the country. But Moscow's aircraft away from the front lines have been plagued by a number of noncombat losses, many of which have been attributed to technical failures.
Experts previously told Newsweek that the high number of reported Russian aircraft accidents likely comes down to restricted training time, a lack of experienced pilots, the demands of combat in Ukraine and dropping safety standards.
In mid-September 2023, an Su-34 crashed during a training flight in Russia's Voronezh region, which borders Ukraine's eastern Luhansk region. Moscow said the two crew members onboard the jet had managed to eject before the aircraft crashed, also chalking the accident up to a "technical malfunction."
In October 2022, Russian authorities said 15 people were killed when an Su-34 crashed into a residential building in Yeysk, a town in Russia's southern Krasnodar region.
Russian state media said at the time, citing Russian security agencies, that two sea gulls were sucked into the engines of the aircraft as it took off, causing a fire in one of the engines.
Footage from close to the crash site appeared to show the aircraft on fire before striking the apartment complex, thick smoke then billowing out from the building.
Several other Russian aircraft types have been involved in accidents since February 2022. In August 2023, a Russian Su-30 fighter jet crashed in the Kaliningrad exclave in an uninhabited area during a training flight, killing both crew members, a Russian military spokesperson told the Tass news agency. Authorities blamed the accident on a technical malfunction.
In October 2022, an Su-30 smashed into a house in the Siberian town of Irkutsk, again killing both crew members.
Correction, 6/11/24, 8:30 a.m. ET: The image in this article was updated to show a Su-34, not a Su-57.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more
