The Ministry of Defense confirmed that five Russian soldiers were killed when the Be-200, which was extinguishing forest fires in Turkey, fell
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As a result of the crash of the Be-200 aircraft in Turkey, five Russian servicemen and three Turkish soldiers were killed, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.
“Those on board the Russian Be-200 plane that crashed in the Republic of Turkey, five crew members from among the Russian military personnel and three citizens of the Republic of Turkey who indicated the sources of fire, were killed,” the ministry said in a message received by RBC.
The plane was landing after extinguishing the fires in Turkey. To find out the causes of the crash, a commission of the Ministry of Defense went to the place.
The Be-200 plane crashed in the Turkish province of Kahramanmarash on the afternoon of August 14. He took part in extinguishing a fire that arose in a forest area after a lightning strike. According to the Hurriyet newspaper, the plane crashed into a mountain. The Turkish Forestry Department reported that the aircraft was leased from Russia to extinguish fires that occurred in the south of the country last month.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the dispatch of the Be-200 aircraft from the naval aviation of the Navy to Turkey to help extinguish forest fires in early July. Then he said that the corresponding instruction was given by President Vladimir Putin.
An informed source of Interfax reported that this aircraft served in the Navy for about a year. “The board was handed over in the summer of 2020,” he said. According to the agency, the crashed aircraft was carrying the 20th tail number and was named in honor of the Soviet civilian pilot Alexander Mamkin.
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