Two Russian soldiers have died this Friday when an Mi-28 military helicopter crashed in the annexed Crimean peninsula during a training flight, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

“During the performance of a planned training flight in the Dzhankoi region (Crimea) an Mi-28 helicopter crashed,” the Russian command said in a statement quoted by the Interfax agency.

According to Defense, the incident took place at 15:42 Moscow time (12:42 GMT).. “The flight was carried out without weapons. no ground damage. Both pilots died,” added the military entity. The Ministry of Defense declared that the preliminary version of the accident was a technical failure.

A commission from the command of the Russian Aerospace Force was sent to the scene to investigate the causes of the incident.. The Mi-28H, also known as “Night Hunter” (Havoc-B according to NATO classification), is a Russian assault helicopter designed at the end of the last century.