Russian bomber plane crashes in Siberia on training exercise

A Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber plane crashed on Monday in Siberia's Irkutsk ​region during a training flight, the Russian Defence ‌Ministry said, but the aircraft's four-person crew had managed to safely eject.

The Tu-22, which can carry hypersonic "Kinzhal" missiles and is code-named "Backfire" ​by NATO, is a Soviet-era supersonic bomber that Russia ​has since used for combat missions in Syria ⁠and Ukraine.

Unverified footage of the crash on social media ​showed a plane nose-diving into a thickly wooded area ​not far from the banks of the Angara river, producing a huge column of smoke.

"The crew ejected. There is no threat to ​the pilots' lives or health," the Interfax news agency ​cited the Defence Ministry as saying. "There is no damage on the ground. ‌The ⁠aircraft was flying without a combat load."

Irkutsk's governor, Igor Kobzev, said in a statement that the plane had crashed near the village of Kamenka. Fire crews were working ​to extinguish a ​blaze at ⁠the site, and all four crew members had been taken to hospital with non-life-threatening ​injuries.

Kobzev said preliminary information indicated engine failure ​as the ⁠likely cause of the crash.

According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the Tu-22M3, a modernised version of the original Tu-22 plane, can deliver Kh-22 (AS-4 Kitchen) air-launched ⁠cruise ​missiles as well as the air-launched ​hypersonic Kinzhal "Dagger" missiles.