One dead in a Russian military jet trainer crash in a region near Crimea

By The Associated Press

Russia’s defense ministry says that one person was killed when a Russian military jet trainer crashed while attempting to land in a region bordering Russia-annexed Crimea. The crash of the Czechoslovak-made L-39 in the Krasnodar region was the second fatal military crash on a training flight in three days. A Sukhoi-30 fighter plane crashed Saturday in the Kaliningrad exclave, killing both pilots. The ministry did not specify if anyone other than the victim was aboard the L-39, which is a twin-seater. The Russian air force has suffered a string of crashes that some observers have attributed to a higher number of flights amid the fighting in Ukraine. Last month, two Russian fighter jets crashed while on training missions — one into the Pacific and one into the Sea of Azov.