Terrifying moment A Russian warplane crashes and explodes near the NATO border after losing control while flying over a crowd of people in the Kaliningrad enclave
- Both crew members were believed to have been killed when the jet nosed over to the ground
This is the terrifying moment a Russian Su-30 fighter jet crashed and exploded near a NATO border after losing control as it flew past a crowd of people.
Both crew members were reportedly killed when the fighter, traveling at high speed at a dangerously low altitude, nosed over the ground in the Kaliningrad region of the Baltic Sea.
The Russian fighter jet hit was the eighth military aircraft Vladimir Putin’s army has lost this year.
The crash happened towards Russia’s border with Lithuania, near the so-called Suwalki Corridor, a 60-mile stretch between Kaliningrad and Russian ally Belarus that has been dubbed the ‘weakest link’ in the NATO.
There are fears that Wagner’s mercenary army will be used as a provocation in the strip which is the only land link between NATO countries Poland and Lithuania.
This is the terrifying moment a Russian Su-30 fighter jet crashed and exploded near a NATO border
Both crew members were reportedly killed when the fighter nosed over the ground in the Kaliningrad region on the Baltic Sea
The Russian fighter jet is the eighth military aircraft Vladimir Putin has lost this year
The official statement said the plane was on a training flight and was not carrying ammunition, citing a “technical failure” as the cause of the accident.
The official statement said the plane was on a training flight and was not carrying ammunition, citing a “technical failure” as the cause of the accident.
However, the Russian Defense Ministry said the Su-30 fell in a deserted area while videos show crowds of people at an outdoor event witnessing the crash.
Thick black smoke billowed into the sky after the plane hit the ground and exploded.
Observers were heard on video saying, “What a nightmare.
“A plane crashed.
‘It exploded.
“The pilots didn’t even eject…how awful.”
Last month, a Russian Su-25 fighter jet crashed into the sea moments before the newly qualified pilot was ejected from the doomed plane in front of astonished tourists near Ukrainian front lines.
Video appeared to show the stricken warplane traveling at high speed at a dangerously low height before plunging into the Sea of Azov near the Russian city of Yeysk.
On impact, a huge plume of water was seen rising skyward as tourists on a nearby beach watched in stunned silence.
Seconds before the fighter jet plunged into the sea, the video appeared to show the young pilot ejecting from the fighter jet as his parachute descended above the water.
Reports from pro-war channels said the Russian pilot was on his first combat mission when he crashed into the sea.
In October last year, an Su-34 crashed next to a residential building and set it on fire, killing 15 people and injuring dozens.
Earlier, smoke was seen on Russia’s Kerch bridge to Crimea – as the Kremlin claims to have shot down two Ukrainian missiles targeting the crucial link to the annexed peninsula
The Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea with Russia is of great importance for Moscow
Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry on Saturday accused Ukrainian forces of targeting the Crimean Bridge and a number of other unspecified targets on the Crimean Peninsula in a wave of rocket attacks. and drone.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has promised retaliation for what it called a “terrorist attack” on the bridge in Crimea, which Moscow forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine unsuccessfully attempted to hit the bridge over the Kerch Strait with S-200 rockets, forcing its temporary closure to traffic. A new attack on Saturday afternoon again closed the bridge.
The 19km bridge, which connects Russian-annexed Crimea to Russia, has been repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian forces since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
“The Ukrainian missile was timely detected and intercepted in flight by Russian air defense systems. No damage or casualties were reported,” the Ministry of Defense said.
In a statement posted earlier on the Telegram messaging app, Russia-installed Crimean Governor Sergei Aksyonov said two rockets were shot down by air defenses near the bridge. He also said the bridge was undamaged.
Aksyonov later reported a third unsuccessful rocket attack on the bridge.
“Thank you to our air defense forces for a high level of professionalism and vigilance,” he wrote on Telegram.
