Thirteen dead after warplane crashes into apartment block in Russia

A warplane officials said was on a training mission which crashed into an apartment building in Russia has left 13 people dead and at least 19 wounded.

The plane, which crashed into the apartment building in Yeysk, a town near the Russian border with Ukraine was an Su-34, a fighter-bomber used to strike targets in Ukraine.

Among the dead were people who jumped from the building in an attempt to escape the blaze caused by the crashed plane.

Both pilots were able to safely eject and footage of one of them being untangled from their parachute by locals had him saying he wasn't shot down.

Firefighters were called to the scene to tackle the blaze, with their efforts to quell the flames requiring 410 people to accomplish and described as a 'difficult' task 'because of the large flames and smoke'.

The official version of the story is that the plane crashed during a training flight even though the Su-34 was loaded with live ammunition.

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A statement on the crash from the Russian defence ministry said: "While taking off on a training flight from a military airfield of the Southern Military District, an Su-34 aircraft crashed.

"The plane crashed within the city of Yeysk. According to the report of the ejected pilots, the cause of the crash was the ignition of one of the engines during take-off."

"At the site of the crash of the Su-34 in the courtyard of one of the residential areas, the fuel of the aircraft ignited."

The plane crash is the latest in a series of apparent malfunctions with Russia's air force, with an Su-25 plane crashing near a farm in the Rostov region on 9 October and an Su-24 coming down on the same day.

Last month another Su-34 crashed in Crimea and on 24 June an Il-76 transport plane suffered an 'engine malfunction' and went down in Ryazan.

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Russia's air force has failed to establish aerial superiority over Ukraine since the beginning of their invasion.

Vladimir Putin has redeployed a number of his nuclear bombers to airbases near the borders with Norway and Finland as part of his rhetoric as the war drags on.

The Russian air assault against Ukraine has also employed unmanned 'kamikaze' drones which recently made a series of strikes against Kyiv which appear to have been targeted against the Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Residents were warned to stay indoors to avoid being killed in the strikes, which have followed a series of attacks which appear to be a retaliation for the bombing of the bridge to Crimea.

If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information