Terrifying moment when Russian warplane crashes and explodes near NATO border after going out of control while flying over crowds of people in Kaliningrad enclave

This is the terrifying moment when a Russian Su-30 fighter jet crashed and exploded near a NATO border after going out of control while flying over a crowd of people.

Both crew members were reportedly killed when the fighter, flying at high speed at a dangerously low altitude, plunged to the ground in the Kaliningrad region of the Baltic Sea.

The stricken Russian fighter jet was the eighth military aircraft that Vladimir Putin’s army lost this year.

The crash occurred near Russia’s border with Lithuania, close to the so-called Suwalki Corridor, a 60-mile stretch between Kaliningrad and Russia’s ally Belarus, which has been called NATO’s “weakest link.”

There are concerns that Wagner’s mercenary army could be used as a provocation in the strip that is the only land connection between NATO countries Poland and Lithuania.

Both crew members were reportedly killed when the fighter plane plunged to the ground in the Kaliningrad region on the Baltic Sea

The Russian fighter jet is the eighth military aircraft that Vladimir Putin has lost this year

According to the official statement, the aircraft was on a training flight and had no ammunition on board, citing a ‘technical malfunction’ as the cause of the crash.

According to the official statement, the aircraft was on a training flight and had no ammunition on board, citing a ‘technical malfunction’ as the cause of the crash.

However, the Russian Defense Ministry said the Su-30 crashed in a deserted area, while videos show crowds at an outside event saw the crash.

Thick black smoke rose into the sky after the plane hit the ground and exploded.

On video, viewers could be heard saying, “What a nightmare.

“A plane crashed.

‘It exploded.

“The pilots didn’t even fire… what a horror.”

Last month, a Russian Su-25 fighter jet crashed into the sea just before the newly qualified pilot jumped out of the doomed plane in front of astonished tourists close to the Ukrainian front lines.

Video appeared to show the stricken fighter jet flying at high speed at a dangerously low altitude before crashing into the Sea of ​​Azov near the Russian city of Yeysk.

At the time of the impact, a huge plume of water was seen rising to the sky as tourists on a nearby beach watched in stunned silence.

Seconds before the fighter jet crashed into the sea, the video appeared to show the young pilot jumping from the fighter jet as his parachute descended over the water.

Reports from pro-war channels said the Russian pilot was on his first combat mission when he crashed into the sea.

In October last year, a Su-34 crashed next to a residential block and set it on fire, killing 15 people and injuring dozens.

Previously, smoke could be seen over Russia’s Kerch bridge to Crimea – as the Kremlin claims to have shot down two Ukrainian missiles aimed at the crucial connection to the annexed peninsula

The Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea to Russia has great significance for Moscow

Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry accused the Ukrainian armed forces of attacking the Crimean Bridge and a number of other unspecified targets in the Crimean peninsula on Saturday in a spate of missile and drone strikes.

Russia’s foreign ministry vowed retaliation for what it called a “terrorist attack” on the bridge in Crimea, which Moscow forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Russia’s defense ministry said Ukraine had unsuccessfully tried to hit the bridge over the Kerch Strait with S-200 missiles, temporarily closing the bridge to traffic. Another attack on Saturday afternoon closed the bridge again.

The 19-km-long bridge, which connects Russia-annexed Crimea to Russia, has been repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian forces since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

The Ukrainian missile was detected in time and intercepted in mid-air by Russian air defense systems. No damage or casualties have been reported, the Ministry of Defense said.

In a statement posted earlier on the Telegram messaging app, Russia-installed governor of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov said two missiles were shot down by anti-aircraft fire near the bridge. He also said the bridge was undamaged.

Aksyonov later reported a third failed missile attack on the bridge.

“Thank you to our air defense forces for a high level of professionalism and vigilance,” he wrote on Telegram.