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Russia's Entire Sukhoi Su-24 Fleet Grounded After Crash

The entire Russian fleet of Su-24 supersonic attack aircraft has been grounded after one crashed while taking off, killing both pilots on board, according to reports from Tass, a Kremlin-backed Russian news site.

The Su-24 crashed outside of Khabarovsk in Russia's Far East while trying to take off during training exercises, news agency Interfax cited a Defence Ministry statement as saying.

"The Sukhoi Su-24M plane crashed during the take-off in the area of the Khurba airport (Khabarovsk territory) while performing a scheduled training flight. According to a report from the scene, both pilots died," the ministry said. "The flights have been suspended before the causes of the crash are established.”

Both pilots were killed in the crash, which an unidentified government source attributed to engine failure.

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As is routine practice in the wake of a military aircraft crash, the head of Russia's Air Force, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev, has grounded all Su-24 aircraft, Interfax reported.

The Su-24 crash is the fifth loss of a Russian air force plane during routine training in the past month, and the second loss of an Su-24 this year.

On Friday, a MiG-29 fighter jet crashed during training near Krasnodar in southern Russia, prompting the Defense Ministry to ground Russia's fleet of over 200 MiG-29 aircraft. A month earlier, on June 4, another MiG-29 crashed during training.

Two and a half hours after that crash, a Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber flipped over and crashed while trying to land in the Voronezh region, about 500km south of Moscow.

Russia grounds entire fleet — A Russian Su-34 plane veered off the runway earlier this year.

A few days after the Su-34 crash, a much larger Russian Tu-95 "Bear" strategic bomber ran off a runway at the Ukrainka bomber base in the far eastern Amur region after an engine caught fire during take-off. One pilot was killed and another was hospitalised.

The Tu-95 fleet, which the Kremlin has used to prod EU airspace amid worsening relations with the West over the Ukraine crisis, was temporarily grounded.