A military attack helicopter crashed in an uninhabited area of central Russia, killing the entire crew, authorities said early Thursday.
"A Mi-28 helicopter crashed in the Zhizdrinsky district," Kaluga region Governor Vladislav Shapsha said. "A task force and rescuers are working at the crash site."
The Zhizdrinsky district, located in the central Kaluga region, is around 300 kilometers southwest of Moscow and 150 kilometers northeast of Russia's border with Ukraine.
The state-run Interfax news agency, citing a defense ministry statement, reported that "the helicopter crashed in an uninhabited area" and that "the crew died." According to defense officials, preliminary findings suggest a technical malfunction caused the disaster.
Unverified reports by pro-Kremlin media claimed that the Mi-28 helicopter served as a "drone hunter" in the western border region of Bryansk, where it was allegedly returning from a mission.
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