Russian Fighter Jet Crashes Into Building as Videos Show Large Flames

A Russian fighter jet has crashed into a residential building in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, resulting in the deaths of at least two people.

Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev said in a Sunday Telegram post that the plane had crashed into a two-story house in the city, which is home to more than 600,000 people.

Russia's emergencies ministry said the two pilots in the SU-30 fighter jet had died, but there was no other mention of any other potential casualties.

According to the Kyiv Independent, a Ukraine-based English language outlet, Irkutsk Oblast Governor Igor Kobzev said he currently had no information about any other casualties.

State-run news agency TASS reported the plane crashed in a wooden house on Second Sovetsky Lane. It added the two pilots had been on a test flight when the crash occurred.

The Investigations committee has since opened a case into the crash and the prosecutor's office has launched an investigation, according to TASS.

Multiple videos of the crash and its aftermath were shared on social media and showed a building engulfed in flames.

Footage shared on Twitter, showed a dashcam video of the fighter jet nosedive before crashing into a residential area.

One clip showed dozens of people look on, or walk towards the crash site as a helicopter was spotted overhead.

A third video, taken from a nearby apartment, showed the flames had spread beyond the house with multiple smaller fires being visible.

The incident comes just days after a different Russian fighter jet crashed into an apartment building in the city of Yeysk, close to the Ukraine-Russia border. TASS confirmed the aircraft involved in the crash was a SU-34 fighter jet.

Irkutsk was recently the location where a man carried out a shooting at a military registration and enlistment office. Kobzev said the man was "immediately" arrested.

Newsweek has contacted the Kremlin for comment.

In September, the U.K. Ministry of Defence provided an update where it stated the Russian Air Force had taken greater risks in its war in Ukraine and had suffered because of it.

An MoD spokesperson said in a September 19 tweet: "Russia has highly likely lost at least four combat jets in Ukraine within the last 10 days taking its attrition to approximately 55 since the start of the invasion.

"There is a realistic possibility that this uptick in losses is partially a result of the Russian Air Force accepting greater risk as it attempts to provide close air support to Russian ground forces under pressure from Ukrainian advances.

"Russian pilots situational awareness is often poor; there is a realistic possibility that some aircraft have strayed over enemy territory and into denser air defence zones as the front lines have moved rapidly.

"Russia's continued lack of air superiority remains one of the most important factors underpinning the fragility of its operational design in Ukraine."