Six crew members and 23 passengers were killed when a Russian military plane crashed in annexed Crimea, Russian news agencies reported in the early hours of Wednesday, citing the Defense Ministry.
The An-26 military transport aircraft was conducting a scheduled flight over the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, the reports said. The military lost contact with the plane around 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
PLANE CRASH IN THE FAR EAST OF RUSSIA LEAVES 48 DEAD
An An-26 aircraft is pictured at a base in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on March 9, 2014. On Tuesday, March 31, 2026, a Russian An-26 military transport aircraft crashed in annexed Crimea, killing 29 people on board. (AP Photo/Na Son Nguyen, File)
The Soviet-designed military transport turboprop plane crashed into a cliff, sources on the scene told state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti.
According to the Russian Investigative Committee, there were a total of seven crew members and 23 passengers on board. Official statements did not immediately make it clear whether one crew member had survived.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin is pictured at a meeting on March 30, 2026. Since the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine in 2022, accidents involving Russian military aircraft have occurred regularly. (Alexander KAZAKOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The Investigative Committee said it has launched a criminal investigation in connection with the flight rules and that a search is underway in a mountainous forest area in Bakhchisarai district.
The Interfax news agency quoted the Defense Ministry as saying that a suspected technical defect could have caused the crash and that there was no “harmful interference” with the plane.
Accidents involving Russian military aircraft have become a regular occurrence since the Kremlin deployed troops to Ukraine.
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Russian officials inspect a building after a Su-34 bomber military aircraft crashed into a residential area in Yeysk, Russia, in October 2022, killing 15 people. According to Russian officials, on March 31, 2026, a military plane carrying crew and passengers crashed into a cliff in annexed Crimea. (Arkady Budnitsky/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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, while in April 2025 a Tu-22M3 bomber crashed in the Siberian region of Irkutsk.
In October 2022, a Su-34 bomber crashed in a residential area of ​​Yeysk, a Russian city on the Sea of ​​Azov. A huge fire broke out in which 15 people died.
