9 people died as a result of the crash of military aircraft and helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces in the Bryansk region. According to the Telegram channel Baza, three pilots died in the downed Mi-8 helicopters, one of them crashed in the city of Klintsy, injuring a local resident, and the second in the Unechsky district.
Two pilots were killed when a Su-34 fighter-bomber crashed in the village of Nizhnyaya. Another aviator crashed into a Su-35 fighter jet in the village of Suretsky Ant.
Kommersant newspaper, based on its own sources, reported that all planes and helicopters may have been shot down near the Ukrainian border.
“They were all part of the same air group – the fighters were supposed to launch missile and bomb attacks on targets in the Chernihiv area of Ukraine, and the helicopters were supposed to secure them to take the Su crew, if any. hit by enemy fire,” the article says.
Regional officials have officially confirmed that only one Mi-8 has crashed so far. Video footage of the four crashes surfaced on social media. The footage shows a severe fire at the helicopter crash sites, with a Mi-8 crashing into a private sector in Klintsy.
According to Kommersant’s article, according to an unofficial version, this helicopter was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. Bryansk police are looking for possible saboteurs, the “Prevention” plan has been announced.
According to experts, judging by the video of the rocket approaching the helicopter, air-to-air ammunition hit the helicopter. So, the second version says that the Russian air group can fall into an air ambush of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Officially, the Russian Ministry of Defense has not yet confirmed the fact of the plane and helicopter crash, which apparently became the largest one-time death of Russian pilots since March last year.
On May 12, a Mi-28 helicopter crashed during a planned training flight in the Dzhankoy region of Crimea. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that both pilots were killed and there was no damage to the ground. According to the official version, the cause of the accident was equipment failure.
On February 23, a Su-25 attack aircraft belonging to the Russian Ministry of Defense crashed in the Belgorod region. The plane crash occurred on the outskirts of the village, about 30 km from the border with the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. The pilot took off but did not survive. According to the military department, the aircraft was returning to the airport after completing a combat mission. The Ministry of Defense also called the preliminary version of the plane crash – a technical malfunction.
On October 9, a Su-24 bomber crashed in a deserted area of the Rostov region. The crew managed to survive. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the cause of the accident was also a technical malfunction.
According to the portal Avia.pro, during the “War of Attrition” between Egypt and Israel, most recently involving Soviet pilots, a one-time death of aviation vehicles of comparable scale occurred for the domestic Air Force.
On July 30, 1971, in an air battle with the Israeli Air Force, Soviet aviation lost four MiG-21 fighters from the 135th Fighter Aviation Regiment by air ambush. The codename for this fight is Operation. “Rimon 20”. Soviet pilots were shot down by Israeli F-4 Phantom and Mirage III fighters.