Russian Military Jet Crashes Killing 2 Pilots

A Russian military aircraft crashed during a training mission on July 6, killing both pilots, the Defense Ministry said.

The ministry said in a statement that the Su-24 bomber crashed while taking off from an airfield in the Khabarovsk region in Russia's Far East at 9:35 p.m. local time.

Officials didn't offer any explanation for the crash. The ministry dispatched an investigation team to the scene of the crash, TASS reported.

It was the fifth accident involving a Russian military aircraft in the past month, but the first with fatalities.

A MiG-29 fighter jet went down in southern Russia on July 3. Another MiG-29 crashed in southern Russia on June 4.

On the same day, a Su-34 bomber ran off the runway upon landing in the southwestern Voronezh region and overturned.

On June 8, a Tu-95, a large four-engine bomber, ran off the runway in the Far East and several Russian crew members were injured.

Based on reporting by AP, AFP, and TASS