Russian military helicopter crashes, 4 soldiers killed

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

"Rescue teams arrived at the scene and reported that three pilots and a 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