Russian Soldier Killed, 2 Injured in Military Helicopter Crash

A military helicopter crashed on a frozen river in western Russia, killing one soldier and seriously injuring two others, officials announced on Friday.

The accident took place at 4 p.m. local time on Friday when the Mi-8 helicopter crashed on the ice of the Volga River, just north of Ulyanovsk, the capital of the region which carries the same name.

Four helicopters were flying over the river when one of them began to lose altitude and crashed on the ice, the Kommersant newspaper reported. The other helicopters continued on with their flight to a nearby airport.

“It was preliminary established that due to technical problems, it experienced a hard landing on the ice of the Volga River, about 2 to 3 kilometers from the shore,” a source told the TASS news agency, adding that the ice didn’t break.

Moreover, Russia’s Investigative Committee noted that the aircraft was flying from Mulino in the Nizhny Novgorod region when it went down. Three crew members were on board.

“According to updated information from the scene, all crew members received injuries of varying severity. During transportation of the crew members, one serviceman died of injuries,” the Defense Ministry said.

Local media reported that the crash happened in the background of Russia’s military buildup along the Ukrainian border, where Moscow has stationed more than 100,000 service members and military hardware.