Witnesses captured the moment a Russian MiG-31 fighter jet crashed in Primorsky Krai, in the far east of Russia. Russia’s Eastern Military District confirmed the disaster, adding that the pilots on board managed to eject before the crash. Witnesses to the crash reported seeing the plane on fire before the crash took place.
Footage of the crash shows thick black smoke billowing into the sky in the remote area of Russia.
Military officials blamed the incident, which occurred during a training flight, on a “technical malfunction”.
It marks the latest “non-combat loss” of Russian military jets during the war with Ukraine, amid growing signs of the strain of Vladimir Putin’s forces.
The $60 million supersonic fighter jet is one of the aircraft regularly deployed in the war with Ukraine.
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In early November, a Russian Mi-2 helicopter crashed in the Kostroma region of Russia with five people on board.
In late October a Russian warplane crashed into a residential building in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing both crew members.
Meanwhile, the latest intelligence briefing from the UK’s Ministry of Defence claims that Russia’s dramatic withdrawal from Kherson and the west bank of the Dnipro River last month has enabled Ukraine to strike additional Russian logistics nodes and lines of communication.
Russia is continuing to evacuate areas of the Kherson region, with the Russian-installed authorities today confirming that they would start evacuating people with reduced mobility from the town of Kakhovka.
Russia illegally annexed four Ukrainian regions at the end of September, without complete control over any of them.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden indicated he would be ready to meet Vladimir Putin.
Speaking alongside French leader Emmanuel Macron, President Biden said: “There’s one way for this war to end – the rational way. Putin to pull out of Ukraine.
“It’s sick, what he’s doing. I’m prepared to speak with Mr Putin if in fact there is an interest in him deciding he’s looking for a way to end the war.”