According to sources at the site, the Soviet-era turboprop crashed into a cliff, as reported by state news agencies Tass and RIA Novosti.

The Investigative Committee of Russia confirmed that the aircraft was carrying seven crew members and 23 passengers in total. It remains unclear if there are any survivors among the crew.

In response to the crash, the Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal investigation concerning the adherence to flight regulations. Currently, a search operation is being conducted in the rugged, forested terrain of the Bakhchisarai district.

The Interfax news agency cited the Defense Ministry as saying a suspected technical malfunction may have caused the crash and that there was no “damaging interference” with the aircraft.

Accidents involving Russian military planes have been frequent since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine.

In December, an An-22 military transport plane crashed in Russia’s Ivanovo region, killing seven crew. In October, a MiG-31 fighter jet crashed in the Lipetsk region, while a Tu-22M3 bomber crashed in the Siberian region of Irkutsk in April 2025.

In October 2022, a Su-34 bomber crashed into a residential area of Yeysk, a Russian city on the Azov sea, sparking a massive fire and killing 15 people.