Russian military transport plane crashes in Crimea, 29 killed

A Russian An-26 military transport plane crashed into a cliff in Crimea, killing 29 people on board, Russian news agencies reported the country's defence ministry as saying early on Wednesday.

TASS news agency, quoting the ministry, said the crash site had been located in Crimea, a peninsula jutting into the Black Sea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014. The ministry said 23 passengers and six crew members had been killed.

The media reports did not say how many people were on board, but they did not mention any survivors.

"The AN-26 aircraft, with which communication was lost earlier, crashed into a cliff, it was reported to TASS from the site of the crash," TASS news agency reported.

RIA news agency said according to an initial assessment, technical problems were believed to have caused the crash.

Russia's defence ministry did not respond immediately to a request for comment outside normal business hours.