A Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber crashed Monday in Siberia’s Irkutsk region during a training flight, Russia’s Defense Ministry said, adding that all four crew members had safely ejected.
“The crew ejected. There is no threat to the pilots’ lives or health,” the ministry said, according to the Interfax news agency. “There is no damage on the ground. The aircraft was flying without a combat load.”
Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev said the bomber crashed near the village of Kamenka. Firefighters were working to extinguish a blaze at the site, he said, and the four crew members were taken to hospital.
Unverified footage circulating on social media appeared to show a plane nose-diving into a heavily wooded area near the banks of the Angara River, followed by a large column of smoke.
The Tu-22, code-named “Backfire” by NATO, is a Soviet-era supersonic bomber that Russia has used in combat missions in Syria and Ukraine.
The Tu-22M3, a modernized version of the aircraft, can carry Kh-22 air-launched cruise missiles, known by NATO as AS-4 Kitchen, as well as Kinzhal “Dagger” hypersonic missiles, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.