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Tu-95 aircraft crashed in Russia's Amur Oblast during training, killing 6 crew members, Moscow says

• 2 min read
Tu-95 aircraft crashed in Russia's Amur Oblast during training, killing 6 crew members, Moscow says
A screenshot of a video released by Telegram channel Baza, which has ties to the Russian Security Services, allegedly from a plane crash in Russia's Amur Oblast. (Baza / Telegram) 

A Russian Tu-95 aircraft crashed in Russia's Amur Oblast while on a training flight, killing six crew members and injuring one, the Kremlin-controlled Interfax news agency news agency said on Sept. 29, citing the Russian Defense Ministry.

Moscow had not clarified the reason for the crash as of publication time. Located in the Russian Far East, Amur Oblast borders China to the south.

The preliminary cause of the nighttime crash is believed to be a fuel explosion on board, according to the Telegram channel Baza, which has ties to the Russian security services.

Baza said that the aircraft crashed near the village of Krasnoyarovo. It added that the aircraft belongs to Ukrainka, a Russian strategic aviation grouping based at Amur Oblast's Ukrainka Air Base. Facing heavy Ukrainian strikes on air bases in regions closer to Ukraine, Russia has relocated an undisclosed number of strategic bombers, such as the Tu-95, to rear hubs such as Ukrainka Air Base, according to media reports.

The Tu-95 is a long-range strategic bomber that entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1956. Russia has repeatedly used the aircraft to launch cruise missile strikes against Ukraine from within Russian airspace.

The crash signals the likely growing strain on Russia's aviation industry, which has been cut off from Western-made parts due to sanctions imposed after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

In 2025, an An-24 passenger plane with 49 people on board crashed in Russia's Amur Oblast on July 24, likely killing all passengers and crew, Russian emergency services told state media outlet TASS.

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Asami Terajima

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Asami Terajima is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent covering Ukrainian military affairs and front-line developments. She is the co-author of the weekly War Notes newsletter. She previously worked as a business reporter for the Kyiv Post, focusing on international trade, infrastructure, investment, and energy. Originally from Japan, Terajima moved to Ukraine during childhood and completed her bachelor's degree in Business Administration in the U.S. She is the winner of the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism 2023 (Local Reporter category) and the George Weidenfeld Prize, awarded as part of Germany's Axel Springer Prize 2023. She was also featured on the Media Development Foundation's 2023 "25 under 25: Young and Bold" list of emerging media makers in Ukraine. She is among the finalists for the U.K.'s One World Media Award 2026 in the Print category and the French Bayeux Calvados-Normandy award 2025 for war correspondents in the Young Reporter category.

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