Sunday, a Russian warplane collided with a residential structure in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, killing both crewmembers. This is the second time in less than a week that a combat airplane has crashed in a residential neighborhood.
Irkutsk’s governor, Igor Kobzev, stated that the plane crashed into a two-story private residence housing two families. No casualties occurred on the ground.
According to the local division of the Russian Ministry of Emergencies, the Su-30 fighter plane crashed during a training flight, causing a fire.
A surveillance camera video uploaded to Russian social networks depicted the aircraft descending in an almost vertical plunge. Other videos depicted the structure enveloped in flames and the deployment of firemen to suppress the fire.
The disaster occurred less than one week after another Russian warplane crashed and exploded near an apartment complex in the Sea of Azov port of Yeysk, killing 15 and injured 19.
The fall on Sunday was the eleventh documented noncombat crash of a Russian warplane since February 24, when Moscow moved soldiers into Ukraine. As the number of Russian military flights climbed dramatically throughout the conflict, so did the number of collisions, according to military specialists.
Irkutsk, a large industrial hub in eastern Siberia with a population of over 600,000, is home to an aircraft factory that produces Su-30 fighter aircraft.
The Su-30 is a supersonic, twin-engine, two-seat fighter that has been an integral part of the Russian air force and has also been employed by India and other nations.