A Russian An-26 military transport plane crashed in Crimea, killing 29 people aboard. The Russian defense ministry reported the crash early Wednesday, according to news agencies. The Soviet-designed turboprop aircraft crashed into a cliff, according to state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti.
The plane lost contact around 6 p.m. local time on Tuesday during a scheduled flight over Crimea, Tass reported. The Investigative Committee said there were seven crew members and 23 passengers on board.
Russia's Investigative Committee has launched a criminal probe into flight regulations. A search is underway in a mountainous forested area in the Bakhchisarai district. The Interfax news agency cited the Defense Ministry as saying a suspected technical malfunction may have caused the crash. They added that there was no "damaging interference" with the aircraft.
Accidents involving Russian military planes have occurred frequently since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. In December, an An-22 military transport plane crashed in Russia's Ivanovo region, killing seven crew members. In October, a MiG-31 fighter jet crashed in the Lipetsk region. In April 2025, a Tu-22M3 bomber crashed in the Siberian region of Irkutsk.
In October 2022, a Su-34 bomber crashed into a residential area of Yeysk, a Russian city on the Azov Sea, killing 15 people.
A Russian An-26 military transport plane crashed in Crimea, killing all 29 people aboard. The Russian defense ministry reported the crash early Wednesday, according to news agencies. The Soviet-designed turboprop aircraft crashed into a cliff, according to state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti.
The plane lost contact around 6 p.m. local time on Tuesday during a scheduled flight over Crimea, Tass reported. The Investigative Committee said there were seven crew members and 23 passengers on board.
Russia's Investigative Committee has launched a criminal probe into flight regulations. A search is underway in a mountainous forested area in the Bakhchisarai district. The Interfax news agency cited the Defense Ministry as saying a suspected technical malfunction may have caused the crash. They added that there was no "damaging interference" with the aircraft.
Accidents involving Russian military planes have occurred frequently since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022. In December, an An-22 military transport plane crashed in Russia's Ivanovo region, killing seven crew members. In October, a MiG-31 fighter jet crashed in the Lipetsk region. In April 2025, a Tu-22M3 bomber crashed in the Siberian region of Irkutsk.
In October 2022, a Su-34 bomber crashed into a residential area of Yeysk, a Russian city on the Azov Sea, killing 15 people. The An-26 is a Soviet-era aircraft manufactured by the Ukrainian aerospace company Antonov.
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The sources also report that the An-26 is manufactured by the Ukrainian aerospace company Antonov.