A Russian Su-30 fighter jet crashed in occupied Crimea on Friday during what Moscow described as a planned training flight, adding to a week in which Russia appears to have lost at least three military aircraft.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said the Su-30 went down at about 11:00 Moscow time while carrying out a routine training mission without ammunition. The crew ejected and was recovered by a ground search-and-rescue team. Russian officials said there was no threat to the pilots’ lives.

The crash came only days after the loss of a Russian An-26 military transport aircraft over occupied Crimea on 31 March. That incident was officially acknowledged by Moscow and resulted in the deaths of all 29 people on board. The aircraft disappeared from radar before crashing, with Russian officials citing a preliminary technical malfunction.

But the week’s losses do not appear to stop there. On the same day as the An-26 disaster, pro-war Russian Telegram channels reported that a Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber had also been lost. The Russian channel Fighterbomber, which is widely followed for military aviation reporting, published a post interpreted by several outlets as referring to the destruction of a Su-34. Ukrainian Pravda reported the claim on 1 April, while Defence24 and other specialist outlets said one pilot was reported dead and the fate of the second crew member remained unclear. Aviation Safety Network has also logged a Russian Air Force Su-34 lost on 31 March under unclear circumstances, stating that at least one crew member did not survive.

Moscow has not publicly confirmed the Su-34 loss. That does not necessarily invalidate the reports, particularly given the frequency with which Russian authorities release incomplete or delayed information on military setbacks. What can be said on the basis of available reporting is that the Su-34 loss was reported first by Russian pro-war sources rather than by the Russian Defence Ministry, and was then picked up by Ukrainian and regional defence media.

The result is that Russia appears to have suffered three military aviation losses in four days: the An-26 transport aircraft in occupied Crimea on 31 March, the reported loss of a Su-34 on the same date, and the Su-30 crash in occupied Crimea on 3 April. Two of those incidents were openly acknowledged by Russian official sources. The third was not, but has been reported across a range of outlets drawing on Russian military-channel information.

Crimea remains one of Russia’s most important military hubs for operations against Ukraine, and repeated aircraft losses in or around the peninsula are likely to attract attention well beyond the immediate incidents themselves. The Su-30 crash appears, on Russia’s own account, to have occurred during a non-combat training sortie. The An-26 crash was a mass-casualty event. The reported Su-34 loss, if accurately described by pro-war Russian sources, would add a further combat-capable aircraft to Russia’s weekly losses.