A Russian army Mi-8 helicopter crashed in the Moscow region, killing the crew, the Defense Ministry announced Tuesday, refusing to say how many were on board.
"The crew died of injuries received during the emergency landing" of the aircraft, the ministry told AFP.
According to the ministry, the crash took place around 8:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. GMT) 20 kilometers from the city of Kline, during a training flight. "According to preliminary information, the cause of the disaster could be a technical defect," the ministry said, adding that the aircraft was unarmed.
A versatile helicopter, the Russian Mi-8 is used for both military and civil transport purposes. The larger models can carry up to 32 people.
In August 2018, 15 people working at an oil station and 3 crew members were killed during the crash of a Mi-8 in the north of Siberia, after a collision with another helicopter.
Helicopter and small plane crashes are particularly common in Siberia and the Russian Far East, where they are a common form of transportation to cover huge distances in these sparsely populated regions.