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Photo: Kooperativ Telegram Channel

HISTORY

The moment a Su-34 crashes into a residential building in the Russian city of Yeysk. The parachute of one of the pilots

can be seen on the right.

of the drone hit the cockpit of the fighter.

The pilot had to eject. The last confirmed

Ukrainian loss in the reporting period was

an Mi-8 helicopter that crashed on October

31 near the Ukrainian-controlled village of

Konstantinovka in the Donetsk region. The

wreckage on the ground was completely

burnt up, but the crew escaped, according

to Ukrainian sources.

Photo: Twitter

Russian losses and accidents

Less fortunate was the crew of a Russian Mi-8MTKO helicopter that crashed on

the same day, Monday October 31, near the

village of Spirne in the Donetsk region. It

was a machine that had been delivered

from Belarus and was to be used by the

mercenary Group Wagner. Shortly after

take-off, the helicopter was hit by a MANPADS rocket, caught fire and flipped after

it hit the ground.

At least two Ka-52 helicopters were also

lost during the reporting period, and the

wreckage of one Mi-24 was found in the

Kharkiv region. The Ukrainians have also

claimed the downing of several other helicopters and Su-25s, but this has not yet

been confirmed.

However, the number of Russian aircraft

lost in accidents continued to rise. The intensive combat deployment is reflected in

the lack of maintenance and subsequent

technical failures that have caused at least

two of the four recorded crashes.

First, on October 9, an unarmed Su-24,

which was on a training flight, made an

emergency landing in a field near the

settlement of Sibirki in Russia’s Rostov

Region. The aircraft caught fire, but both

crew members escaped. The cause of the

accident is believed to be a technical failure.

On the same day, a Su-25 crashed in the

Rostov Region. It happened near the village

of Rogalik, 30 km from the Millerovo military airport. In this case, the pilot did not

manage to eject and was killed. According

to Russian media, he was trying to pull the

aircraft as far as possible from the houses

of the settlement near which it crashed.

A major tragedy occurred on Monday

October 17 in the Russian town of Yeysk on

the coast of the Sea of Azov. Just 70 km as

the crow flies on the opposite shore of the

sea lies Mariupol, which was razed to the

ground by Russian troops in the first months of the war. A Su-34 bomber crashed

into a block of flats in Yeiisk shortly after

take-off. It was supposed to fly a training

flight. Both pilots ejected just before impact. One of them testified that one of the

twin engines started to burn during take-off. Russian investigators consider the

most likely theory to be that it collided with

birds during take-off. The impact of the

fuel-laden machine sparked a huge fire

in the nine-storey apartment building. At

least three people died after jumping out

of a window rather than stay in the flames.

A total of 15 people died, including three

children.

A similar accident was repeated six days

later in Irkutsk, Siberia. There, a Sukhoi

Su-30 fighter jet crashed on houses on

October 23. According to official statements of the Russian authorities, the aircraft was on a test flight after being repaired. Su-30 fighter jets are produced in

Irkutsk. The aircraft crashed to the ground

almost perpendicularly and both pilots perished. Although several houses were hit,

no one on the ground was killed this time.

It is speculated that this time the cause

of the accident was a malfunction on the

oxygen system, which caused both pilots

to lose consciousness.

A video of the crash of the Su-25, which

occurred back in June, also emerged during the reporting period. However, the video footage from the pilot’s helmet camera

has become very popular because it is really action-packed. Only 15 seconds pass

from the start of the ejection to the pilot’s

parachute hitting the ground. The accident

happened on June 17 near Belgorod. The

pilot caught a power line during a low flight and cut off half of the vertical fin. The

crashed aircraft bore the designation “Red

09” and the registration number RF-91965.

It also had the letter V on its tail.

In October, a video surfaced showing the crash of a Russian Su-25 "Red 09" near Belgorod back on June 17.

December 2022

INFO Eduard