A Russian military jet has crashed into a residential building shortly after taking off near the border with Ukraine, sparking a major fire that has reportedly left at least 13 people dead, according to Russian news agency Interfax, citing a senior official.
Video and photographs uploaded to social media on Monday showed a residential building engulfed in flames in Yeysk, a port and resort town in Russialocated just south of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol across the Sea of Azov.
The Su-34 fighter-bomber crashed into the building shortly after take-off at the nearby Yuzhny airbase, the Russian defence ministry said in a statement. The cause of the crash was an engine fire that prevented the jet, which can be used on bombing runs or to engage other aircraft, from gaining altitude.
The plane, which the ministry said was on a training flight, was carrying a payload that detonated after impact, preventing firefighters from reaching the fire for some time. Video showed at least five storeys of the residential flats engulfed in flames.
Both pilots managed to eject from the jet before it struck the building, the ministry said.
A photograph showed at least one of the pilots ejected from the plane before impact, catapulting into the sky and deploying an orange parachute as a massive fireball exploded into the sky behind him.
“It fell right over us. Everything is in black smoke,” a witness said in a video shared by the channel. “Mom, do you understand? Ten metres and that could have been us.”
After earlier being revised down, the death toll later rose to 13, including three children. Russian news agency Tass quoted the Russian Emergencies ministry saying several bodies were found under debris. The country’s healthcare ministry said an additional 19 people suffered injuries from the crash
The crash came on the same day as Russia launched a sustained air attack against Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in an attempt to disable their energy grids and leave millions of civilians without heating or electricity.
Russia launched dozens of Iranian-made suicide drones at the Ukrainian cities, in the first known use of the loitering munitions against the Ukrainian capital.
The plane in Yeysk is the 10th Russian military jet to have crashed since Russia launched its invasion in February,
according to the Bell, a Russian media outlet. The majority have been strike aircraft and transport planes, including two Su-34s in the last month.
The crash also highlights the strain of the eight-month-old war on the Russian military machine. It occurred just days after several soldiers opened fire at a training camp in the Belgorod region, killing more than a dozen and raising more questions about the quality of the recruits that Russia is rushing to the front to hold back a successful Ukrainian counterattack.
There is a lot at stake
The world’s most powerful man is using his office to punish journalistic organisations that won’t follow his orders or who report critically on his policies. Donald Trump’s actions against the press include bans, lawsuits and hand-picking his own pool of reporters.
But the global threat against the press is bigger than just Trump.
Economic and authoritarian forces around the globe are challenging journalists’ ability to report. An independent press, one that those in power can’t simply overrule, is crucial to democracy. Figures such as Trump and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán want to crush it through exclusion and influence.
The Guardian is a global news organisation that will stand up to attacks on the free press. We have no interest serving those with immense power or immense wealth.
We are owned by an independent trust devoted only to protecting and defending our journalism. That means we don’t have a billionaire owner dictating what our reporters can cover or what opinions our columnists can have, or shareholders demanding a quick return.
The global situation is shifting hour by hour, making this an extremely challenging moment. It will take brave, well-funded, committed, quality journalism to call out what is happening.
Our job is to make sure we do not get overwhelmed as Trump floods the zone. We must focus on the stories that will make the biggest impact on people’s lives, while holding the powerful to account. We’ll also continue to focus on the ideas people need to create a better world: a reason for hope.
As the writer and Guardian columnist Rebecca Solnit says: “authentic hope requires clarity … and imagination”.
The Guardian can provide both and, with the help of readers like you in Cambodia, we can drive hope by reporting truthfully on what is happening and never pulling our punches.
A lot is at stake.
