A Russian military transport aircraft crashed in Crimea, killing all 29 people on board, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Wednesday.
The aircraft, identified as an Antonov An-26, went down on a mountain near the Black Sea coast. It was carrying six crew members and 23 passengers at the time of the حادث.
According to officials, the plane disappeared from radar around 8:00 p.m. Moscow time on March 31 while operating on a scheduled flight route. Rescue teams later reached the crash site and confirmed that there were no survivors.
Preliminary findings indicate that a technical malfunction may have caused the crash, although a full investigation is ongoing.
The Antonov An-26, a Soviet-era aircraft introduced in the 1960s, is widely used for cargo and military transport. However, it has been involved in several accidents over the years.
Previous incidents include a 2020 crash in Ukraine that killed 26 people, and another in 2022 that resulted in one fatality. Similar accidents involving the same aircraft model have also been reported in South Sudan and Ivory Coast.
The latest crash has once again raised concerns about the continued use of aging military aircraft in active service.
