Two Russian Knights pilots killed in Su-30SM crash in Russia

Russia has lost two Su-30SM fighter jets within a few days. In one of the crashes, Russian military bloggers report, two pilots of the Russian Knights aerobatic team were killed — Yerofeyev and Kochetov.

According to a Russian Telegram channel, the crash happened on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Another outlet says it could have been Wednesday or Thursday. Where exactly the plane went down is unknown.

The first Su-30SM crashed during a training flight in the Kaliningrad region. Both pilots managed to eject and were taken to hospital with injuries.

The dead men served in the Russian Knights, which is based in Kubinka in the Moscow region. According to a Ukrainian news agency, since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine the group's pilots have regularly taken part in combat operations. It is impossible to verify whether Yerofeyev and Kochetov fought.

Over his career Yerofeyev learned to fly the Yak-52, L-39, MiG-29, Su-27, Su-30SM and Su-35, logging about 3300 hours. He joined the team in 2003. His colleague served in the 611th Fighter Aviation Regiment and flew the L-39, MiG-29, Su-27, Su-30SM and Su-35S — about 1500 hours in total.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz