Russian Naval Aviation Su-30SM/SM2 Crash

A Su-30SM crashed on 21 October 2026 in the Chernyakhovsk District of Kaliningrad Oblast, between the villages of Timofeyevka and Zelyony Bor, near the Chernyakhovsk naval air base of the Baltic Fleet. The Russian Defence Ministry said the aircraft was on a routine training flight with no weapons aboard and came down in an unpopulated area. Both crew members ejected and were recovered by a ground search-and-rescue team; local media reported they were hospitalised, and the ministry said their lives were not in danger. Video published online showed the jet descending before impact. No cause had been given. It is the second Su-30 lost in Kaliningrad Oblast since a fatal crash in August 2023.