MiG-31 fighter jet crashes in Murmansk region: pilots survive

“During a planned exercise in the Murmansk region, a MiG-31 fighter jet crashed in an abandoned place. Both pilots managed to eject. They were picked up by rescuers, nothing threatens their life or health.” she stated agency, referring to the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Multiple Telegram accounts said the fighter crashed into a lake near the village of Rizh-Guba, 150 kilometers south of Murmansk. Rescuers picked up the ejected pilots in the nearby village of Berezki. On Telegram a video also appeared showing the fighter jet catching fire in flight and falling to the ground.

According to the information of the diary Kommersant served as pilots in the 98th Separate Mixed Aviation Regiment.

The MiG-31 was created in Soviet times as an interceptor with a two-man crew, which was mainly intended to ensure that American reconnaissance and bomber aircraft did not penetrate over Siberia in the vast polar regions. Russia modernized these machines and modified some of them to carry Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, these were used in the war against Ukraine.

Russian MiG-31 fighter jets crashed several times last year – for example in December in the Primorsky Krai or last April in the Leningrad Region. In both cases, the pilots ejected and the machines fell in uninhabited areas, according to authorities. However, in October, a Russian Su-34 bomber crashed into a residential building in the southern Russian city of Yejsk, killing 16 people.