A Russian military transport aircraft crashed in annexed Crimea, killing 29 people on board, including crew members and passengers, according to Russian media reports citing the Defense Ministry early Wednesday.

The An-26 aircraft was on a routine flight over the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, when contact with the plane was lost around 6 pm on Tuesday.

According to state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti, the Soviet-era turboprop aircraft crashed into a cliff.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said there were seven crew members and 23 passengers on board, though it was not immediately clear if any crew member survived.

Authorities have opened a criminal investigation into possible violations of flight safety rules. Rescue operations are ongoing in a mountainous and forested area in the Bakhchisarai district where the crash occurred.

Interfax, citing the Defense Ministry, reported that a technical fault is believed to be the likely cause of the crash, adding there was no indication of external interference.

Military aviation accidents in Russia have occurred repeatedly since the country launched its military offensive in Ukraine.

In recent incidents, an An-22 transport aircraft crashed in the Ivanovo region in December, killing seven crew members. A MiG-31 fighter jet went down in the Lipetsk region in October, while a Tu-22M3 bomber crashed in the Irkutsk region in April 2025.

Earlier, in October 2022, a Su-34 bomber crashed into a residential area in the city of Yeysk near the Azov Sea, triggering a major fire and killing 15 people.