The Russian Air Force (Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily [VVS]) is to clear its MiG-31 'Foxhound' combat aircraft to resume flight operations after they were temporarily grounded following a crash in the far east of the country, state media reported on 26 December.

The grounding order is to be lifted on 30 December, Russia's state news agency RIA Novosti reported VVS spokesman Colonel Igor Klimov as saying.

Although the ban on flight operations is to be lifted, the investigation into the 14 December loss of a MiG-31 near Vladivostok is continuing. Both crew members ejected safely after their aircraft is said to have developed engine problems.

The VVS has approximately 250 MiG-31s in service, the first of which became operational in the early 1980s.