MOSCOW, January 18. /TASS/. Two Sukhoi Su-34 fighter bombers have collided in mid-air over the Strait of Tatary (or the Tatar Strait) in Russia’s Far Eastern Khabarovsk Region, a source in the regional law enforcement agencies told TASS on Friday.

"According to preliminary data, the accident occurred over the Tatar Strait. Two Su-34 jets vanished from radar screens close to the inhabited community of Nelma in the Sovetsko-Gavansky District. They presumably collided in mid-air," the source said.

That said, a search operation is underway.

Earlier, a TASS source said that both planes had been flying from the sea when they collided in mid-air. The crew of one aircraft managed to eject, while the second plane will probably be able to return to the base. However, the fate of both crews still remains unknown.