Ninth Fall Explosion: Russian SU-34 Military Plane Crashes Into Apartment Building In Western Russia Killing Several

A Russian military fighter jet crashed into an apartment building in a city near Ukraine, resulting in a massive fire. The incident occurred on Monday in Yeysk, a small port town in the Krasnodar Krai region of western Russia with a population of around 90,000. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the story to the state-run Tass press agency, reporting that the aircraft involved in the crash was a Su-34 fighter jet. The make of the plane has been confirmed by various reputable sources, including the Dutch defense analysis and news site Oryx, which added the Su-34 to the list it maintains of aircraft destroyed in Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As of Monday, Oryx lists 17 Su-34 Russian jet fighters as destroyed in various incidents, with another one unconfirmed and potentially involving a slightly different model. "While climbing to perform a training flight from the military airfield of the southern military district, a Su-34 aircraft crashed," the Russian Defense Ministry claimed in its statement. "According to the report of ejected pilots, the cause of the plane crash was the ignition of one of the engines during takeoff." Yeysk is notably close to Ukraine, with the port town situated across the Taganrog Gulf in the Eastern Sea of Azov from Mariupol, a Ukrainian city that has been the focus of intense conflict during the invasion. By road, the town is roughly 186 miles (300 kilometers) from the nearest border with Ukraine. The town is also located close to a Russian military base. Source