Russian military helicopter crashes, 4 soldiers killed

Three pilots and a technician were killed after a Russian military helicopter crashed in the country's west yesterday.

A Russian Mi-8 helicopter. Illustration: Aircav

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the Pskov region, northwest of Moscow, according to Tass.

"The rescue team arrived at the scene and reported that three pilots and one technician were killed," the ministry's press service said.

The helicopter is believed to belong to a military unit stationed in the Pskov region. It was on a training flight when it suddenly lost contact with the ground. The aircraft crashed in a forest several kilometers from the runway.

The cause of the incident is still unclear, but accidents involving Mi-8 helicopters are not uncommon in Russia. In June 2014, a similar helicopter crashed into a lake in the Murmansk region of northwestern Russia, killing 15 people.

According to VNE