CRIMEA — A Russian An-26 military transport plane crashed into a cliff in annexed Crimea on Tuesday, killing six crew members and 23 passengers. The plane was carrying out a scheduled flight over the Crimean peninsula when communication was lost at about 6 p.m. local time.

A search team found the crash site, where a commission from the military is working. The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement: "The preliminary cause of the crash is a technical malfunction. A commission from the military is working at the site."

The Defense Ministry also stated, "There was no impact on the aircraft." The ministry said it believes the crash was caused by a technical malfunction.

The An-26 is a light tactical military transport that can carry cargo and up to 40 passengers over short and medium distances. The model has been in service since the late 1960s and has also been used by airlines to carry freight.

The An-26 model has been involved in a number of deadly crashes over the last decade. In 2022, a Ukrainian An-26 crashed during a technical flight in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, killing one person. In 2020, another An-26 crashed on a training flight in northeastern Ukraine, killing all but one of the 27 people on board.

Also in 2020, eight people, including five Russians, were killed when an An-26 crashed in South Sudan. In 2017, four of the 10 people on board were killed when an An-26 crashed on landing in Ivory Coast.

Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. The territory remains internationally disputed.