A Russian Su- 34 fighter jet have crashed into an apartment building in a city near Ukraine. This was revealed by Russian state news agency Tass. The crash resulted in a huge fire.
The incident took place on Monday in Yeysk, a small port city in the Krasnodar Krai area of western Russia. The city has a population of about 90, 000 people.
The crashing of the fighter jet was confirmed by several reliable sources, including analysis site Oryx, which added the Su- 34 to its list of aircraft destroyed in Putin’ s special military operation in Ukraine.
image
According to Oryx lists, so far 17 Russian Su- 34 fighter jets have been destroyed in various incidents, with another one unconfirmed and possibly involving a slightly different model.
In a statement released after the incident, the Russian Ministry of Defense said: ” The Su- 34 aircraft crashed while taking off for a training flight from the military airfield of the Southern Military District. ”
The pilot of the jet survived the crash, a photo published by BNO News showed a parachute over the explosion caused by the incident.
image
Speaking on what lead to the incident, the ejected pilots said the cause of the plane crash was the ignition of one of the engines during takeoff.
Yeysk is remarkably close to Ukraine, with the port city lying across the Gulf of Taganrog on the Eastern Sea of Azov from Mariupol, a city in Ukraine that was the focus of intense conflict during the invasion. By road, the city is approximately 300 kilometers (186 miles) from the nearest border with Ukraine. The city is also situated near a Russian military base.
Workers of the local emergency service in Yeysk told Interfax that the accident and resulting explosion engulfed five floors of the apartment building in flames. A few floors above collapsed and so far 45 apartment units have been damaged. Tass later released report that the whole building was on fire.
