dozens died in Crimea
By Ulf Mauder
Moscow (dpa) — Authorities launched an investigation on Wednesday after a Russian military aircraft crashed on the Russian-annexed Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
There were seven crew members and 23 passengers on board, the Investigative Committee in Moscow said. Earlier, the Defence Ministry reported 29 dead, including six crew members and 23 passengers.
The crash had a technical cause and no external impact was found, it said.
The aircraft was carrying members of the Russian Northern Fleet, the governor of the Murmansk region, Andrei Chibis, wrote on Telegram. He expressed his condolences to the families of the navy personnel who lost their lives and promised support for the bereaved.
The plane crashed in a mountainous forest area near the village of Kuybyshevo in the Bakhchysarai district, not far from the Crimean city of Sevastopol, according to the Investigative Committee.
The criminal investigation is examining possible violations of safety regulations in flight operations or in preparing the flight. Military investigators and forensic experts are working to clarify the causes of the crash.
dozens died in Crimea
The Defence Ministry said earlier that it lost contact with the An-26 aircraft on Tuesday evening at around 6 pm (1500 GMT).
Russia’s military uses Crimea to launch attacks on Ukraine, against which Moscow has been waging war for more than four years. The Antonov turboprop aircraft are also used by the military as transport planes.
Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014 after an internationally unrecognized referendum. It launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has been waging a devastating war against its neighbour ever since.
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian sites in Crimea, including with drones.
Daytime drone strikes
Following overnight airstrikes, Russia attacked Ukraine with hundreds of drones during the day on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian Air Force said it had detected 361 enemy aerial objects, 345 of which were shot down or electronically neutralized.
Drone strikes were nonetheless reported at 14 locations across the country.
Four killed in drone explosion in Ukrainian countryside
dozens died in Crimea
In central Ukraine, four people were killed when they approached an unexploded drone that had crashed in open countryside in the Zolotonosha district, the regional prosecutor’s office in Cherkasy said.
According to Governor Ihor Taburets, it was a Russian drone. The authorities once again warned the population against approaching unexploded ordnance and unknown objects.
Moscow claims capture of Ukraine’s Luhansk region
Meanwhile, Russia claimed the capture of Ukraine’s Luhansk region, state news agency TASS cited the Defence Ministry as saying.
Ukraine initially did not comment.
However, maps from Ukrainian military observers continued to show a small area around the village of Novoyehorivka still under Ukrainian control.
Moscow-installed authorities had previously claimed full control of the eastern Ukrainian region in June 2025.
Parts of Luhansk have been under the control of Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.
Three days before the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion, Moscow recognized the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as independent states despite strong international condemnation.
dozens died in Crimea
The Russians then managed to occupy most of the Luhansk region within a few months. During a counteroffensive in late 2022, the Ukrainians recaptured some areas in northern Luhansk.
Kremlin: Zelensky should withdraw troops from Donbass
The latest claims from Moscow come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced plans for a video call with US representatives.
Zelensky said Russia wanted Ukraine to withdraw from the Donbass area in eastern Ukraine, which is primarily focused on the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk in the country’s traditional coal-mining region, within two months.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov now said that it was not about two months, according to TASS. Zelensky had to decide today to withdraw the Ukrainian military from the Donbass region, he said.
In negotiations to end the war, Moscow has so far insisted on a list of maximal demands, including control of the Donbass region.
Most recently, Moscow and Kiev held direct talks mediated by the United States.
©2026 dpa GmbH. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
