The Russian Defence Ministry on Tuesday announced that its Su-34 supersonic bomber has crashed, killing the two pilots.
The incident happened when the jet was flying a routine training mission at the country’s mountainous North Ossetia-Alania region, RT reports.
Preliminary assessment suggests that the aircraft had suffered a technical failure, the MOD said, as quoted by the TASS news agency.
North Ossetia is located in the North Caucasus, bordering South Ossetia and Georgia from the south.
The twin-seat plane is capable of striking ground targets with high-precision bombs and missiles. Russian Su-34s have flown multiple combat missions in Syria and Ukraine.
The incident occurred two months after a Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber crashed in southern Russia when returning from a raid in Ukraine, killing two of its four crew members.
In October 2022, a Russian Su-34 suffered an engine failure and crashed into an apartment block in the southern city of Yeysk, killing 16 people. Both pilots survived.