Russian strategic bomber plane crashes in Siberia on training exercise

MOSCOW, June 15 (Reuters) - ‌A Russian ​Tu-22M3 ​strategic bomber plane crashed on Monday in Siberia's Irkutsk region during a training ‌flight, the Russian Defence Ministry said, and the ⁠aircraft's 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, and that emergency services and medical personnel were on the scene providing necessary ‌assistance.

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, according to ​the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy PapachristouEditing by Andrew ‌Osborn)

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