Video | Russian military plane crashes in residential area near Ukraine

A Russian Su-34 military plane crashed in the populated Yeysk district on Monday, sparking a massive fire in a building in the town on the shores of the Sea of ​​Azov near Ukraine, killing three people. Russian authorities.

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Three people were killed and 19 injured in the fire, which broke out in a nine-story building housing about 600 people, Krasnodar regional authorities said in a telegram.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed of the accident and sent the ministers of health, Mikhail Murashko, and emergency situations, Alexander Kurenkov, to Yeisk, the Kremlin said in a statement.

“Where the Sukhoi 34 crashed in a residential yard, the plane’s fuel caught fire,” the Defense Ministry said, while pictures on social networks taken by witnesses showed a large fire burning in an apartment building.

According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, cited by Russian agencies, the fire ignited on five of the nine levels of the building, covering an area of ​​about 2,000 m2.

The MoD said the bomber pilots were able to eject. According to the same source it was a training aircraft.

Venamin Kondratiev, governor of the Russian region of Krasnodar, noted that “all fire and rescue units in the region are engaged in extinguishing the fire.”

Immediately after the accident, “the fire spread to several floors. “According to preliminary information, seventeen flats have been affected,” he added.

The fire was brought under control by 5:30pm GMT, Mr. Kondrativ said.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which is responsible for major criminal investigations, said it was launching a “criminal investigation” into Telegram.

The city of Yeysk, located on the Sea of ​​Azov, on the Gulf of Taganrog, opposite the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, was destroyed by bombardment and a long siege in the first months of the Russian offensive.

Oksana, who lives in the area where the plane crashed, told AFP by phone that the area was cordoned off. “There is a risk of explosion. Everything burns from within. “Smoke is coming,” she said.

It was her child, who was home alone, who warned her of the disaster.

“It was a shock, the child was alone at home. Every night we went to bed with fear, and Mariupol was in front,” she said, asking to remain anonymous.

In videos and photos posted online, flames visible through numerous balconies and windows engulfed the typical Soviet brown building.

Since the entry of Russian forces into Ukraine, flights have been banned across the region except for Russian military aircraft.

Accidents involving military aircraft are relatively common in Russia.