A Russian Su-30 fighter jet crashed during a routine training mission in the Karelia region near the Finnish border on Thursday evening, resulting in the deaths of both crew members, according to the Russian Defence Ministry.
The ministry confirmed that the aircraft went down in an uninhabited area.
“Today, at around 7.00 pm Moscow time, a Su-30 fighter jet crashed in Karelia while performing a scheduled training flight. The aircraft crashed in an uninhabited area. The flight was performed without ammunition. The crew of the aircraft was killed,” the Defence Ministry statement released by TASS said.
Officials in Russia’s northwestern republic of Karelia dispatched emergency teams to the likely crash location, regional Governor Artur Parfenchikov said.
“I have received information about the crash of a military jet in the Prionezhsky district. I have dispatched Karelia’s emergency services to the suspected crash site,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
He later confirmed that no one on the ground was injured and no property was damaged, as the aircraft came down in a dense forested area.