Vladimir Putin‘s forces lost a pricey fighter jet on June 11 as a Su-34 crashed on the ground during a “scheduled training flight”, according to Russian news agencies.
The crash of the Su-34 military aircraft, believed to have a price tag of around £28million, happened overnight in North Ossetia, a Russian region close to the Black Sea and Georgia.
People living in the village of Gorny Dzuarikau reported hearing an explosion during the night, the Russian Mash Telegram channel wrote, likely to be linked to the incident.
State news agency Ria Novosti said the crash happened in a mountainous area, and TASS added no ground damage was reported.
The two crewmembers aboard the jet died in the crash, the Russian Ministry of Defence said.
A Russian Aerospace Forces commission, TASS also wrote, has been dispatched to the area to investigate the incident.
The state agencies have already reported the disaster was likely caused by a “technical malfunction”.
Should the technical malfunction be confirmed, this incident would mark the latest in a long series of aircraft accidents that have been happening in Russia since the beginning of the Kremlin’s unlawful invasion of Ukraine.
Part of the Western sanctions issued against Russia have caused a shortage of parts needed by the aircraft industry for the building and maintenance of planes.
The crash came just days after regional authorities accused Ukraine of launching a drone attack against the military airfield near the local town of Mozdok – the first attack of this kind in North Ossetia since the beginning of the war in February 2022.
The region is some 500 miles from the frontline in Ukraine.