Russian An-26 with troops crashes in occupied Crimea, pro-Kremlin military bloggers report Su-34 downing

Tetyana Oliynyk, Ivan Diakonov - 1 April, 01:33

Russian An-26. Stock photo: Wikipedia, Alan Wilson

A Russian An-26 military transport aircraft has crashed in temporarily occupied Crimea, killing all 29 people on board.

Source: Russian media outlets, citing the Russian Defence Ministry; Fighterbomber, a military blogger close to the Russian Aerospace Forces

Details: The Russian Defence Ministry said it had lost contact with the An-26 at around 18:00 Moscow time on Tuesday 31 March while it had been conducting a "routine flight" over annexed Crimea.

Update: The ministry later reported that a search and rescue team had located the crash site. Six crew members and 23 passengers were killed.

Officials added that there had been "no external impact" on the aircraft.

Fighterbomber said the aircraft had been transporting personnel, with around 30 people on board.

Earlier, the same blogger also reported the loss of a Su-34 aircraft, although there has been no official confirmation of that claim.

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