Russia may have lost two Su-30 fighters in a single day
In Russia's Kaliningrad region, a Su-30 fighter jet crashed, and its crew ejected and survived. Later, Russian military bloggers reported that another Su-30 was lost on the same day and its pilots were killed. The second incident has not been officially confirmed.
Russia may have lost two Su-30 fighters in a single day
According to DW, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that a Su-30 crashed in the Kaliningrad region on October 21. The ministry stated that the aircraft was conducting a scheduled training flight, had no ammunition on board, and crashed in an uninhabited area.
The official report noted that the pilots managed to eject and were evacuated. Their lives are not in danger.
Later, pro-war Russian blogger Kirill Fyodorov posted a photo of a Su-30 on his Telegram channel, hinting that two aircraft had been lost in a single day.
The Fighterbomber and "Voevoda veshchaet" channels, associated with the Russian Aerospace Forces, also circulated posts implying that a second fighter had crashed. Fighterbomber wrote that "Misfortune does not come alone," but provided no details. "Voevoda veshchaet" called the day "extremely difficult" for the Aerospace Forces.
According to information provided by bloggers, the crew of the second aircraft died. However, at the time of publication, the Russian Ministry of Defense had not issued a statement regarding this incident. Where and under what circumstances the aircraft was lost was also not disclosed.
The Ukrainian portal "Militarnyi" suggested that it might be a Su-30SM modification. This information has not been officially confirmed either.
A crash involving a Su-30 in the Kaliningrad region has occurred before. In August 2023, a fighter of this type crashed while performing a training flight, killing its crew.
DW also recalled other losses of Russian military aviation not related to combat operations. In particular, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, a Tu-95 strategic bomber crashed during a training flight in the Amur region on September 29, killing six crew members and injuring one person.
Additionally, on the night of April 1, the ministry admitted that an An-26 military transport aircraft had crashed in Russian-annexed Crimea. Six crew members and 23 passengers were killed in that incident.