The circumstances of the crash are still unclear, although the Russian Investigative Committee has opened a "criminal investigation".
While a Sukhoi 34 military plane was on a training flight, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the plane crashed into a residential area in Yeysk, a city located on the shores of the Sea of Azov. , near the Ukrainian border.
The bomber pilots were able to eject, but a fire broke out in a building where 600 people lived after the crash.
“At the place of the fall of the Sukhoi 34 in the courtyard of a residential area, the fuel of the plane caught fire,” said the Ministry of Defense, while images on social networks filmed by witnesses show a gigantic fire engulfing an apartment building.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, quoted by the Russian agencies, the fire ignited five levels out of nine of the building, covering some 2,000 m².
A first assessment reports three dead, 19 people are hospitalized.
The governor of the Russian region of Krasnodar, Benïamin Kontradtiev indicated for his part that “all the fire and rescue units in the region are busy putting out the fire”.
Immediately after the accident “the fire spread to several floors.
Seventeen apartments are affected according to preliminary information,” he added.
According to the Kremlin, quoted by Russian agencies, Vladimir Putin ordered the governor, the Minister of Emergency Situations, Alexander Kurenkov, and that of Health Mikhail Murachko to go there.
Since the entry of Russian forces in Ukraine, flights are prohibited throughout the region except for Russian military aircraft.
Accidents involving military aircraft remain relatively common in Russia.
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