MOSCOW, July 1 (Xinhua) -- A Russian Su-34 fighter jet crashed Tuesday in the Nizhny Novgorod region east of Moscow during a training flight, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Both crew members ejected from the plane which crashed in a deserted area with no destruction on the ground, the ministry said in a statement.

The incident took place at around 1:00 p.m. Moscow Time (1000 GMT) due to the exhaust system failure of one of the plane's landing gear struts, it added. ■