Russian Su-30 crashes in Kaliningrad, reports on pilots' injuries conflict

A Russian Su-30 fighter jet crashed during a training flight in Kaliningrad Oblast on Wednesday, Russia's defence ministry said, according to the state news agency Interfax. The two-member crew ejected and were evacuated by a ground search-and-rescue team, the ministry said.

Russia's defence ministry said the crew ejected safely and that no one was hurt in the incident, Bulgarian outlet NOVA News reported, citing Interfax. But Romanian outlet Digi24, citing Russian press reports relayed by Anadolu, said both pilots suffered injuries and were taken to a military hospital. The pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Mash had made a similar claim earlier, which Russian officials have not confirmed publicly.

The jet came down near the town of Chernyakhovsk, about 90 kilometres east of Kaliningrad city, Digi24 and the Kyiv Independent reported, citing Russian press accounts; Digi24 said the exact site was between the settlements of Timofeyevka and Zelyonyi Bor. The aircraft, which some reports identified as the Su-30SM variant, was not carrying weapons at the time, Moscow said. The cause of the crash was not given.

Russian military aircraft have crashed during training exercises several times in recent months. A Tu-95 bomber crashed in Russia's Amur Oblast in September, killing six crew members and injuring one, Interfax reported, citing the defence ministry.

The crash happened as concerns grow among NATO members about military activity in and around Kaliningrad, a heavily militarised Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea bordering Poland and Lithuania. Lithuania's interior minister, Martynas Katelynas, called for troops to be deployed to the border with the exclave, the Kyiv Independent reported. Dutch outlet HLN reported this week that Russia is building a large radar system in Kaliningrad that could in theory detect aircraft, warships and missiles thousands of kilometres away.