Ministry of Defense: among those killed in the An-26 crash in Syria are 27 officers, including a major general

The crash of the An-26 transport aircraft in Syria killed 27 officers, including a major general, as well as ensigns and contract servicemen, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The department did not release the names of the dead. Earlier, the telegram channel Wargonzo wrote that Major General V. V. Eremeev was among the dead. RBC sources report that his name was Vladimir Yeremeev.

The Ministry of Defense also said that the plane was flown by a first-class pilot, and the weather conditions during the plane's approach were "simple".

• On March 6, a Russian An-26 military transport aircraft crashed in Syria while landing near the Khmeimim base. There were 39 people on board, all of them died.
• The Ministry of Defense reports that a technical malfunction could be the cause; the agency excludes an attack on the plane.
• The disaster was Russia's largest single loss in Syria. In just two and a half years of operation in Syria, according to official figures, more than 80 servicemen were killed.