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It seems That russia Lost a Rare MiG-31 With the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal at Belbek Air Base in Occupied Crimea, the Pilot Died

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russia's MiG-31K with the Kinzhal missile / Illustrative photo from open sources
russia's MiG-31K with the Kinzhal missile / Illustrative photo from open sources

A number of factors indicate that the russian federation lost a rare carrier of the Kinzhal cruise missile at the Belbek air base

After an accident had occurred on October 1 at the russian airbase with a plane that rolled out of the lane and fell off a cliff, the type of the jet and some extremely interesting details were revealed.

According to reports of russian unofficial resources, this aircraft was a heavy supersonic interceptor MiG-31. Prior to this, there was also information about the placement of aircraft of this type in the occupied Crimea from the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR).

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There is also information that the plane wasn’t landing, but, as Defense Express had already suspected, was taking off. Due to plane malfunction, the pilots were unable to make it, and the fully loaded plane with weapons was lost, which explains the rather powerful explosion and large fire.

It is noted that of the two crew members, only the navigator (who is the first to leave the emergency vehicle according to the plane scheme) was able to eject, but there was not enough time for the pilot to eject.

There’s an important detail given regarding the accident: "A first-class pilot from Khotylovo has died." This hook makes it possible to identify the type of aircraft even more precisely. Because in 2021 there was information that there is MiG-31K with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles from the 790th Fighter Aviation Regiment is located at the Khotylovo Air Base in Tver Oblast. Then the russian federation said in the usual manner that "now NATO will panic."

It seems That russia Lost a Rare MiG-31 With the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal at Belbek Air Base in Occupied Crimea, the Pilot Died, Defense Express, war in Ukraine, Russian-Ukrainian war
russia's MiG-31K's with the Kinzhal missiles / Illustrative photo from open sources

Consequently, Defense Express assumes that on October 1, russia lost the very MiG-31K, which could have carried the Kinzhal cruise missile. Considering that there are a few tens of both MiG-31K jets and hypersonic missiles in russia, this loss is quite painful.

It seems That russia Lost a Rare MiG-31 With the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal at Belbek Air Base in Occupied Crimea, the Pilot Died, Defense Express, war in Ukraine, Russian-Ukrainian war
russia's MiG-31K with the Kinzhal missile / Illustrative photo from open sources

Defense Express notes that if the information is true, this is the third MiG-31 loss in russia since the beginning of the year. In particular, on April 8, the MiG-31 crashed in Leningrad Oblast, and on January 29, another MiG-31 rolled off the runway during takeoff and collapsed in Novgorod Oblast.

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