MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that a Sukhoi Su-27 warplane crashed on Thursday when returning to the airfield in Moscow Region.

"On June 9, at 10.25 a.m. Moscow time a Su-27 plane of Russia’s Aerospace Forces crashed when returning to the base airfield in the Moscow Region after performing a scheduled flight. The pilot has been killed. The flight was performed without allowance of ammunition," the press service said.

There is no damage on the ground, a commission of the defense ministry is working at the crash scene.

Earlier reports said the warplane crashed in the Pushkinsky district of the Moscow Region, to the northeast of Moscow, near the village of Muranovo. A source in the law enforcement agencies told TASS the plane was part of the Russian Knights aerobatic team and its pilot was Maj. Sergey Yeremenko.