Russia confirms crew died in military helicopter hard landing in Far East

MOSCOW - The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that a military Mi-8 helicopter made a hard landing in Ugolnye Kopi airfield in Russia's Far East on Tuesday, and the crew died in the crash, local media Sputnik reported.

The Russian Aerospace Forces helicopter was performing a training flight in Chukotka autonomous district before it made the landing, said the ministry.

Earlier, Sputnik cited a source to say that four people are believed to have died in the landing.

Preliminary information showed that a technical malfunction of the helicopter could be the cause of the crash, and a commission of the Aerospace Forces chief command has departed for the crash site, the defense ministry said.

On May 19, a military Mi-8 helicopter of the Russian Aerospace Forces crashed near the city of Klin in Moscow Region, and its crew died of injuries. The defense ministry said then that a technical malfunction possibly caused the disaster.