The victims of a deadly Russian fighter jet crash in October 2022 are seeking damages from the Russian military, the Kommersant newspaper reported Friday, citing anonymous sources.
Sixteen people were killed and 43 others were injured when a Su-34 fighter jet crashed into a residential building in the town of Yeysk, located in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region. The cause of the disaster was believed to be a technical malfunction and investigators have since closed a probe into safety violations.
At least six families had initially sought to sue the Russian Defense Ministry for compensation of up to 12 million rubles ($131,000) per person, according to Kommersant.
But a court in Yeysk ruled to lower the moral damages to between 20,000 rubles and 100,000 rubles ($220-$1,000). An appeals court named the lower sums “reasonable and fair.”
The Yeysk court also partially satisfied the lawsuits of three families, awarding them between 236,000 rubles and 935,000 rubles ($2,500-$10,200) in property damages.
The Russian Defense Ministry’s eastern military district appealed the rulings, arguing that it was wrongly identified as a defendant and was not liable to pay compensation. Both courts reportedly dismissed those appeals.
Court hearings are ongoing for three other families’ lawsuits, Kommersant reported.
Regional authorities repaired the damaged building and its residents were given the keys to new apartments there in late 2023.