Eleanor Corney
This is the second fatal crash in the Russian residential area in six days.
A Russian warplane has crashed into a residential building in the region of Irkutsk, killing both crew members. This is the second fatal crash in the Russian residential area in six days.
Irkutsk is a major industrial region in Eastern Siberia. It has a population of more than 600,000 and is home to an aircraft factory producing the Sukhoi Su-30 plane.
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/1584145168298491904
The Su-30 is a twin-engine, two-seat fighter plane that has been a key component of the Russian air force. This crash reflects the growing strain felt by Russia after the recent attacks on Ukraine. The Irkutsk governor, Igor Kobzev, said the Su-30 fighter jet crashed into a private, two-storey building which housed two families. There were no casualties on the ground.
According to the United Aircraft Corporation, the plane came down during a training flight before going to the air force. The jet carried no weapons. The cause of the crash is not currently known.
Surveillance camera footage posted on Russian social networks showed that the fighter jet came down almost vertically. The footage also showed flames engulfing the building.
The crash came less than a week after a Su-34 bomber crashed near an apartment building in the Sea of Azov port of Yeysk. The plane explosion killed 15 people and injured a further 19,
It has been noted by military experts that the number of crashes has increased during the conflict, alongside the number of Russian military flights.
Featured image courtesy of Sangga Rima Roman Selia on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes have been made to this image.
