A Russian military pilot was killed Thursday after his fighter jet crashed near Moscow, the defence ministry announced, with sources saying the warplane belonged to the air force's aerobatic display team. The Su-27 aircraft did not have any weapons onboard at the time and the crash did not cause any damage on the ground, according to the defence ministry.
"(A) jet of the Russian air force crashed as it was returning to its home aerodrome in the Moscow region after a planned flight. The pilot died," the ministry said in a statement carried by news agencies. Sources told news agencies that the jet was from the Russian Knights display team - the country's equivalent of Britain's famed Red Arrows - and ploughed into the ground some 35 kilometres (21 miles) north-east of the capital as it was flying in formation with five other planes.