On 3rd April an unarmed Russian Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet crashed in a routine training flight in Crimea, and the media reported that this plane is the fourth warplane that Moscow has lost in the past four days.

The Ministry of Defence in Russia affirmed that the Su-30 crashed and both crew members had ejected safely. 

The incident occurred after Russia’s air force recently lost two planes in one day. On March 31, an An-26 transport aircraft crashed in a mountainous area of the Russian-controlled Crimean Peninsula, killing 29 people on board, including a high-ranking Russian general. 

Later that day, a reliable source of information, in the view of military analysts, a Telegram channel reported that a fighter-bomber had also crashed.  

The FighterBomber channel, led by a former Russian pilot, failed to mention the point where the Su-34 was lost or the reason. It is believed the pilot was killed. 

On April 2, the Ukrainian armed forces shot down an An-72P aeroplane, a maritime patrol aircraft, over an airfield in Crimea, the Ukrainian drone unit reported the attack.