On Tuesday, October 22, six servicemen from an airborne division were killed in an accidental explosion at a training ground in western Russia, defense officials said.

      The incident took place at a military training facility near the village of Strugi Krasnye in the Pskov region as the servicemen were returning from live firing drills. The object of explosion is still unknown.

      “Six paratroopers were killed. Two other soldiers were wounded and hospitalized,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. Col. Gen. Vladimir Shamanov, Commander of Russian Airborne Troops, has flown to the site of the incident in order to personally supervise the investigation, the statement said.

      According to Russian media, the killed paratroopers were serving their apprenticeship at the Ryazan Higher Airbone Military School. The Pskov region was the place of their probation period.