VIDEO A burning Russian military plane crashes into the sea off Crimea

A Russian military plane crashed into the sea Thursday off the port of Sevastopol in Crimea, the governor of the Russian-occupied region said, quoted by Reuters.

Authorities said the pilot ejected safely and was picked up by rescuers. Civilian targets were not damaged, said the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvojayev.

It is not yet clear what caused the incident, and the governor did not elaborate on this issue, Russian press agencies write.

Ukrainian publications Kyiv Independent and Pravda cited local sources in Crimea as saying that the plane was mistakenly shot down by Russian air defenses, but this information has not yet been confirmed.

Images posted on social media showed the military aircraft on fire as it crashed into the sea.

Earlier, Russian Telegram channels specified that the crashed plane was a Su-35. Other sources said it would be a Su-27.

According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian air force suffered heavy losses in late February and March, losing at least ten fighter jets, including Su-34 bombers, Su-35 fighter jets and a rare A-50 military spy plane .