Russian Military Plane Crashes in Crimea, Killing 29

A Russian An-26 military transport plane crashed into a cliff in occupied Crimea on Tuesday, killing all 29 people aboard including 7 crew members and 23 passengers after losing contact at approximately 18:00 local time. The Russian Defence Ministry attributed the crash to technical failure with no external damage, while Russia's Investigative Committee opened an inquiry into flight safety violations. The incident adds to a troubling pattern of An-26 crashes, including accidents that killed 26 in Ukraine in 2020, 28 in Russia's Far East in 2021, and 1 in Zaporizhzhia in 2022. The crash occurs amid ongoing fighting in Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, with Ukrainian President Zelensky demanding its return as part of any ceasefire while a US-backed peace plan has proposed ceding the peninsula to Russia.

The An-26 crash in occupied Crimea

• ▪Russia's Investigative Committee opened an inquiry into a flight safety violation following the An-26 crash in Crimea
• ▪A Russian military An-26 aircraft crashed in occupied Crimea, killing 29 people on board
• ▪Seven crew members and 23 passengers were on board the An-26 when it crashed in Crimea
• ▪The Russian defence ministry blamed a technical failure for the An-26 crash in Crimea
• ▪The An-26 aircraft wreckage was found on Tuesday after the plane lost contact with authorities during a routine flight
• ▪Communication with the An-26 aircraft was lost at about 18:00 local time on Tuesday
• ▪The Russian defence ministry reported no external damage to the crashed An-26 aircraft, implying missiles, drones or birds are not suspected of causing the crash

History of An-26 aircraft incidents

• ▪The An-26 aircraft is manufactured by the Ukrainian aerospace company Antonov
• ▪One person was killed in an An-26 crash in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region in 2022
• ▪Twenty-six people, mostly cadets, were killed when a Ukrainian An-26 came down in Kharkiv in 2020
• ▪The An-26 is a Soviet-era aircraft mainly used in a military capacity to transport heavy cargo and smaller numbers of passengers over a short-to-medium distance
• ▪Twenty-eight people were killed in an An-26 crash in the Russian Far East in 2021

Ongoing conflict and territorial disputes in Crimea

• ▪In November, a US-backed peace plan proposed Kyiv would cede control of Crimea
• ▪Fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces has been ongoing in Crimea since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion four years ago
• ▪Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014

Perspective of Russian Defence Ministry

• ▪The Russian defence ministry reported no external damage to the crashed An-26 aircraft, ruling out missiles, drones or birds as causes