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  "path": "/news/world/russia-plane-crash-antonov-crimea-malfunction-ukraine",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-31T22:34:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "'I WANT to send British soldiers to Ukraine', Defence Secretary confirms",
    "Ukraine is 'shield' against invasion of Europe warns frontline politician ahead of war anniversary",
    "Ukraine wipes out entire month of Russian gains in FIVE DAYS - fastest pace in nearly three years",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\n\nSome 29 people have been killed after a Russian military plane crashed in Crimea, the country's Defence Ministry has said.\n\nThe aircraft, an Antonov An-26 cargo plane, had vanished from radar on Tuesday afternoon.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\"Contact was lost\" with the plane, the Kremlin said - before claiming there was \"no damage\" to the aircraft.\n\nLater that evening, it confirmed that 29 people were dead - six crew members and 23 passengers - with a mysterious malfunction to blame.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\nRussia said a rescue team had found its wreckage.\n\n\"The An-26 aircraft, with which communication was lost earlier, crashed into a cliff,\" Russia's Tass state news agency reported.\n\nLocal military bloggers claimed that Ukrainian drones were in the air over Crimea - occupied by Vladimir Putin's forces since 2014 - at around 10.30pm local time (8.30pm BST).\n\nUkraine's military has not commented on the crash.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe An-26 is a Soviet-era twin-engine turboprop aircraft, which has been widely used for short- and medium-haul transport.\n\nIt can carry up to 40 troops or just over five tons of cargo.\n\nUkraine's intelligence services destroyed two Russian An-26s in a drone attack on Crimea in September 2025.\n\nMembers of the \"Ghosts\" special unit hit two of planes and damaged coastal radar systems\n\n### LATEST FROM UKRAINE:\n\n\n\n\n  * 'I WANT to send British soldiers to Ukraine', Defence Secretary confirms\n  * Ukraine is 'shield' against invasion of Europe warns frontline politician ahead of war anniversary\n  * Ukraine wipes out entire month of Russian gains in FIVE DAYS - fastest pace in nearly three years\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nIn footage from a drone-mounted camera, the device could be seen approaching Russian military targets before unleashing strikes.\n\nSeconds later, explosions could be seen lighting up the site, with thick smoke rising into the air as the aircraft burned.\n\nThough last month, Ukrainian drones caused havoc for civilians in Crimea - though only after they were shot down by occupying Russian forces.\n\nA downed Ukrainian UAV fell next to a five-storey apartment building in the port of Sevastopol, which hosts the Russian Black Sea Fleet, on March 9.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThat injured nine people and caused considerable damage, the area's Russia-appointed Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.\n\nMr Razvozhayev added the drone was filled with metal pieces and explosives and badly damaged the building when it fell next to it.\n\nOf the nine injured, six people requiring hospital treatment, three of them children.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Twenty-nine killed as Russian military plane smashes into cliff in Crimea after 'malfunction'"
}