Moscow, 17 July 2023 (dpa/MIA) - A Russian fighter jet has crashed over the Sea of Azov in the border region between Russia and Ukraine, according to official reports.

The engine of the Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft failed on Monday afternoon, the authorities of the southern Russian region of Krasnodar said in an initial report, which could not be independently verified at first.

The pilot was killed, the head of the district administration, Roman Bublik, wrote on his Telegram channel.

Both Russia and Ukraine, which is under attack from Moscow, border the Sea of Azov. However, since Russia illegally annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and has occupied other parts of Ukrainian territory over the past 17 months, the entire coast is currently controlled by Russian troops.

Russian fighter jets repeatedly launch their attacks on the neighbouring country from the Krasnodar region.

This is not the first serious fighter jet accident in the region. In October 2022, a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber crashed into a residential building in the town of Yeysk on the shores of the Sea of Azov. More than a dozen people were killed.

Photo: MIA Archive