The An-22 military plane carrying the servicemen but no cargo had been performing a training exercise on its way from Voronezh to Tver in central Russia when it disappeared from radar screens late Tuesday, said a spokeswoman for military prosecutors of the Moscow military district.
Its scattered remains were found early Wednesday in a field four kilometres from the village of Troitskoye in the Tula region, with the impact of the crash leaving a five-metre-deep crater in the ground, spokeswoman Natalya Zemskova told AFP.
"All those aboard died," the Moscow-based investigators said in a separate statement, adding local witnesses heard an explosion.
Zemskova said however that the pilots were presumed dead because officials were still looking for their bodies.
Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the defence minister, said bad weather at the scene was hampering search efforts. "It's a blizzard and snowing," he said in televised remarks.
Dating back to the Soviet era, Antonov An-22 is a military cargo turboprop plane and is among the world's largest aircraft.
Authorities opened a criminal probe into the accident, said Zemskova, adding however it was too early to say what caused the crash.
Accidents involving military aircraft are relatively common in Russia.
Last year, another Russian military plane, a Tupolev Tu-142, crashed into the sea during a training exercise in Russia's Far East, leaving all 11 crew members missing and presumed dead.
as/ss
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Political flags or banners
-
Bikes, skateboards or scooters
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Rashid & Rajab
Director: Mohammed Saeed Harib
Stars: Shadi Alfons, Marwan Abdullah, Doaa Mostafa Ragab
Two stars out of five
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
End of free parking
- paid-for parking will be rolled across Abu Dhabi island on August 18
- drivers will have three working weeks leeway before fines are issued
- areas that are currently free to park - around Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Maqta Bridge, Mussaffah Bridge and the Corniche - will now require a ticket
- villa residents will need a permit to park outside their home. One vehicle is Dh800 and a second is Dh1,200.
- The penalty for failing to pay for a ticket after 10 minutes will be Dh200
- Parking on a patch of sand will incur a fine of Dh300
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now