A Su-24 bomber from Russia crashed on Tuesday during a training flight, as reported by state-run media, with information obtained from Russia’s Defense Ministry.
After more than 12 hours, the fate of the two crew members remains unknown. The incident took place in the Volgograd region.
The Su-24 did not have any weapons and crashed in an uninhabited area, according to the Defense Ministry cited by Interfax.
Rescue helicopters were sent to the location, as mentioned by the news agency.
The crash site has been identified by local media as the rural district of Kalachyovsky, which is situated slightly west of Volgograd and approximately 300 kilometers east of Ukraine’s partially occupied Luhansk region.
An anonymous law enforcement official told the local news website V1.ru on Tuesday evening that the pilots’ situation does not look optimistic.
V1.ru stated on Wednesday morning that at least two anonymous channels on the Telegram messaging app claimed both Su-24 crew members died in the crash; however, there has been no confirmation of these claims.
Similarly, the Defense Ministry has not disclosed if the pilots were killed in the accident.
Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine last year, the Russian military has experienced various fatal air crashes.
In July, a pilot died in a training flight crash over the Azov Sea, near Ukraine, and in October 2022, 15 people were killed when a Su-34 collided with an apartment building in the Russian town of Yeysk.
Reporting by AFP.
