Military plane crashes in Russia's southern Krasnodar region

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - A Su-34 bomber plane crashed in Russia's Yeysk city, located in the southern Krasnodar region, the country's Defense Ministry said on Monday.

"On October 17, 2022, a Su-34 crashed while climbing to perform a training flight from the military airfield of the Southern Military District. The plane crashed in the city of Yeysk," the ministry said in a statement.

The pilots successfully ejected and reported the ignition of one of the engines during takeoff as the cause of the accident, the ministry added.

The crash caused a fire in a residential area in the city, the ministry said.

In a separate statement, Vladimir Kondratyev, the regional governor, confirmed the fire and said the emergency services work at the place of the incident.

The regional emergency service said a nine-story residential building caught fire from the leaked plane fuel and 17 apartments were damaged.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin heard the urgent reports of several ministers and the Krasnodar governor.

According to a statement by the presidential press service, Putin instructed top officials to go to the place of the incident to personally control the situation and address the problems.