Moscow, Jun 13 (IANS/RIA Novosti): A Soviet-era Su-25 fighter jet crashed in Belarus, killing the pilot, the country's defence ministry said.
The pilot, Nikolai Gridnyov, lost control of the jet when doing exercises in low-altitude flight, the ministry told local news agency BELTA.
Ground control ordered the pilot to eject from the plane, but he stayed in order to prevent the machine from crashing into a neighbouring village, sacrificing his life to make the jet crash two km away from the village, the report said.
The ministry did not elaborate on the causes of the crash. the Belarusian Air Force has more than 70 Su-25s, which were developed in the 1970s.