{"id":12953,"date":"2018-04-08T19:00:37","date_gmt":"2018-04-08T19:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/?p=12953"},"modified":"2018-04-08T19:00:37","modified_gmt":"2018-04-08T19:00:37","slug":"russian-military-loses-its-first-transport-aircraft-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/russian-military-loses-its-first-transport-aircraft-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Russian military loses its first transport aircraft in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"

On March 6, a Russian AN-26 \u201cCurl\u201d military transport aircraft crashed on landing at Khmeimim Airbase. It had 39 people on board \u2013 6 crew and 33 Russian Army personnel. There were 1 major-general, 26 officers, sergeants, and enlisted personnel. There were no survivors.<\/p>\n

The news was quickly spread by Russian media, and Russian Ministry of Defense was forced to admit the loss of a plane right away in order not to make fools of themselves. It is not clear if the plane experienced a malfunction or was shot down from the ground. However, Russian officials immediately dismissed the possibility of an attack.<\/p>\n

Khmeimim Airbase is surrounded by civilian settlements populated by Allawis who are mostly loyal to Assad. However, we need to take into account that the slow and low airplane could become an easy target for a machine gun or even a sniper rifle that would damage some critical component, and the pilots would have no time to respond to the failure.<\/p>\n

In any case, witnesses report that the plane was approaching with a tilt, it was shaking, and it hit some ground structures. Most likely Russian Ministry of Defense will stick to the \u201cmalfunction\u201d version and reject any possibility of the plane being hit from the ground.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

At least 2 AN-26 aircraft have been observed in Syria. One of them is RF-36162\/26, \u201c26 Red\u201d. Photos of that particular plane were used by Russian media in the reports of this event. This aircraft brought journalists to the Aleppo airport in 2017. The plane was manufactured in 1980 and just turned 38 years old. It is a very advanced age for an aircraft, and even taking into account that military fleets are usually maintained and inspected better than civilian ones, human error and the age of the plane could be possible reasons for the crash. There was also another AN-26 plane observed in Syria, RF-93996\/24, \u201c24 Red\u201d. It was manufactured in 1979, so it\u2019s even older than the first one.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Russian government was anxious to find ways of extending the service life of Antonov aircraft using local specialists. Obviously, Russian technicians can repair those planes in the field, however they lack the official approval of the manufacturer. Today there are 236 AN-24 and AN-26 aircraft in Russia. The Military Balance reports that there are more than 100 AN-26 in service with Russian Air Forces.<\/p>\n

AN-26 is the primary aircraft of Russian military transport fleet. It was manufactured between 1969 and 1986. The youngest plane will be 32 years old this year.<\/p>\n

Over the last 3 years Russian military transports have been constantly used to support Russian forces in Syria. Heavy equipment is delivered by sea from Novorossiysk and Crimea, but Russian Air Force is responsible for personnel transport and urgent cargo deliveries.<\/p>\n

Large cargo, evacuation of wounded, and urgent troop deployments are performed by several AN-124 (RA82035 \u0438 RA82010) and IL-76 (RA76762, RF78850, RA78840, RF78805, RF76740, RF76745, RF78810, RA78847, RA78794, RF78797, RA78830, RF76739 and others) aircraft. Twitter account @galandecZP monitors the everyday cargo flow to Syria.<\/p>\n

There are also several IL-62 aircraft flying to Syria (RA86559, RA86561 \u0438 RA86495). They usually carry senior officers or VIPs. For example, on March 5th<\/sup>, RA86561 landed in Damascus, and the next day news agencies reported that the Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valeriy Gerasimov had arrived in Syria. It is possible that Major General Vladimir Yeremeyev, who was on board of the crashed AN-26, was flying to meet with him.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Usually, flights from Russia to Syria go over Iran and Turkey. They primarily fly to Khmeimim and Damascus. There is still civilian air traffic over Syria (Syrian Air and FlyDamas) that uses airports in Aleppo and Al-Kamyshly (near Turkish border).<\/p>\n

AN-26 was flying from Kuweires (Aleppo) to Khmeimim (Latakia). It is a short flight of little less than 200km. Local flights like this one was what the AN-26 had been doing in Syria. It was a sort of an air taxi for Russian officers. Probably Major General Yeremeyev and his staff officers were called to meet with Gerasimov in Aleppo. Ground transportation would take much more time and could be more dangerous, so they decided to fly. It didn\u2019t help them and as a result Russia receives another \u201cCargo 200\u201d.<\/p>\n

Late on March 6, the Instagram account ‘morozov_iakov’<\/a>\u00a0posted a photo of the list of people who allegedly were on that flight.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Probably this list was also obtained by the journalists of RBC<\/a>. As the publication states, “The authenticity of this list of An-26 personnel was confirmed to RBC by three sources in the Defense Ministry. In total according to the Ministry of Defense, the plane carried 39 people. At the moment, the names of 31 dead are known.”<\/p>\n

List of surnames:
\n1. Major Smirnov S.G.
\n2. Senior Lieutenant Safronov D.V.
\n3. Senior Lieutenant Panov M. A.
\n4. Senior Lieutenant Altunin K.N.
\n5. Senior Lieutenant Osipkin A.V.
\n6. Senior Sergeant Yepifanov
\n7. Major General Yeremeyev V.G.
\n8. Captain First Rank Sachuk A.M.
\n9. Captain First Rank Moiseyev M.A.
\n10. Colonel Fedun S.V.
\n11. Major Morozov A.L.
\n12. Senior Sergeant Lushkov S.V.
\n13. Ensign Grigoriev M.A.
\n14. Captain Gorban K.A.
\n15. Captain Gaidarkhanov E.S.
\n16. Junior Sergeant Belov A.I.
\n17. Senior Sergeant Bogatyryov Z.M.
\n18. Major Maunev M.I.
\n19. Captain Pylyonok A.A.
\n20. Captain Sheintsivt S.V.
\n21. Major Chagin E.V.
\n22. Senior Ensign Grabovsky S.V.
\n23. Captain Trufanov A.V.
\n24. Major Kukushkin D.I.
\n25. Senior Lieutenant Shevchenko A.A.
\n26. Corporal Kolomoytsev I.K.
\n27. Major Mikryukov V.V.
\n28. Captain Medic Rasputin N.B.
\n29. Sergeant Serezhenkov E.A.
\n30. Junior Sergeant Chapdarov B.R.
\n31. Senior Lieutenant Levchuk G.S.<\/p>\n

For some reason the list does not specify the initials of Senior Sergeant Yepifanov.
\nThe Instagram channel ‘yelansky_garnizon’<\/a>\u00a0had its first condolences with the mention of servicemen from the list.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\nThe entry states that among the dead were former servicemen from the Elanskiy Training Center and a local of the garrison: Major Mikryukov V.V. and Major Kukushkin D.I.
\nAt the same time, investigative bloggers in social networks do not trust this list yet and continue to seek confirmation or refutation.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This publication was prepared by\u00a0Anton Pavlushko<\/a>\u00a0specially for\u00a0InformNapalm<\/a>. Translated by\u00a0GEK, edited by Max Alginin
\n(Creative Commons \u2014 Attribution 4.0 International \u2014 CC BY 4.0<\/a>)
\nRepost and\u00a0share with friends.<\/strong>
\nFor notifications about InformNapalm investigations follow us on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On March 6, a Russian AN-26 \u201cCurl\u201d military transport aircraft crashed on landing at Khmeimim Airbase. It…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":12955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[528,531],"tags":[666,167,513],"class_list":["post-12953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-syria","tag-khmeimim","tag-russian-armed-forces","tag-syria"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRussian military loses its first transport aircraft in Syria - InformNapalm.org (English)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On March 6, a Russian AN-26 \u201cCurl\u201d military transport aircraft crashed on landing at Khmeimim Airbase in Syria. 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It had 39 people on board \u2013 6 crew and 33 Russian Army personnel. There were 1 major-general, 26 officers, sergeants, and enlisted personnel. There were no survivors.\r\n\r\nThe news was quickly spread by Russian media, and Russian Ministry of Defense was forced to admit the loss of a plane right away in order not to make fools of themselves. It is not clear if the plane experienced a malfunction or was shot down from the ground. However, Russian officials immediately dismissed the possibility of an attack.\r\n\r\nKhmeimim Airbase is surrounded by civilian settlements populated by Allawis who are mostly loyal to Assad. However, we need to take into account that the slow and low airplane could become an easy target for a machine gun or even a sniper rifle that would damage some critical component, and the pilots would have no time to respond to the failure.\r\n\r\nIn any case, witnesses report that the plane was approaching with a tilt, it was shaking, and it hit some ground structures. Most likely Russian Ministry of Defense will stick to the \u201cmalfunction\u201d version and reject any possibility of the plane being hit from the ground.\r\n\r\n<img src=\"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/DJg-vLIWsAAjA-J1.jpg\" \/>\r\n\r\nAt least 2 AN-26 aircraft have been observed in Syria. One of them is RF-36162\/26, \u201c26 Red\u201d. Photos of that particular plane were used by Russian media in the reports of this event. This aircraft brought journalists to the Aleppo airport in 2017. The plane was manufactured in 1980 and just turned 38 years old. It is a very advanced age for an aircraft, and even taking into account that military fleets are usually maintained and inspected better than civilian ones, human error and the age of the plane could be possible reasons for the crash. There was also another AN-26 plane observed in Syria, RF-93996\/24, \u201c24 Red\u201d. It was manufactured in 1979, so it\u2019s even older than the first one.\r\n\r\nLast year, the Russian government was anxious to find ways of extending the service life of Antonov aircraft using local specialists. Obviously, Russian technicians can repair those planes in the field, however they lack the official approval of the manufacturer. Today there are 236 AN-24 and AN-26 aircraft in Russia. The Military Balance reports that there are more than 100 AN-26 in service with Russian Air Forces.\r\n\r\nAN-26 is the primary aircraft of Russian military transport fleet. It was manufactured between 1969 and 1986. The youngest plane will be 32 years old this year.\r\n\r\nOver the last 3 years Russian military transports have been constantly used to support Russian forces in Syria. Heavy equipment is delivered by sea from Novorossiysk and Crimea, but Russian Air Force is responsible for personnel transport and urgent cargo deliveries.\r\n\r\nLarge cargo, evacuation of wounded, and urgent troop deployments are performed by several AN-124 (RA82035 \u0438 RA82010) and IL-76 (RA76762, RF78850, RA78840, RF78805, RF76740, RF76745, RF78810, RA78847, RA78794, RF78797, RA78830, RF76739 and others) aircraft. Twitter account @galandecZP monitors the everyday cargo flow to Syria.\r\n\r\nThere are also several IL-62 aircraft flying to Syria (RA86559, RA86561 \u0438 RA86495). They usually carry senior officers or VIPs. For example, on March 5<sup>th<\/sup>, RA86561 landed in Damascus, and the next day news agencies reported that the Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valeriy Gerasimov had arrived in Syria. It is possible that Major General Vladimir Yeremeyev, who was on board of the crashed AN-26, was flying to meet with him.\r\n\r\n<img src=\"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/7552035048148101.jpg\" \/>\r\n\r\nUsually, flights from Russia to Syria go over Iran and Turkey. They primarily fly to Khmeimim and Damascus. There is still civilian air traffic over Syria (Syrian Air and FlyDamas) that uses airports in Aleppo and Al-Kamyshly (near Turkish border).\r\n\r\nAN-26 was flying from Kuweires (Aleppo) to Khmeimim (Latakia). It is a short flight of little less than 200km. Local flights like this one was what the AN-26 had been doing in Syria. It was a sort of an air taxi for Russian officers. Probably Major General Yeremeyev and his staff officers were called to meet with Gerasimov in Aleppo. Ground transportation would take much more time and could be more dangerous, so they decided to fly. It didn\u2019t help them and as a result Russia receives another \u201cCargo 200\u201d.\r\n\r\nLate on March 6, the Instagram account '<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Bf_uN8aAjTq\/?hl=ru&taken-by=morozov_iakov\">morozov_iakov'<\/a>\u00a0posted a photo of the list of people who allegedly were on that flight.\r\n\r\n<img src=\"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Spisok.jpg\" \/>\r\n\r\nProbably this list was also obtained by the journalists of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rbc.ru\/society\/06\/03\/2018\/5a9eebb59a794777455ebd1a\">RBC<\/a>. As the publication states, \"The authenticity of this list of An-26 personnel was confirmed to RBC by three sources in the Defense Ministry. In total according to the Ministry of Defense, the plane carried 39 people. At the moment, the names of 31 dead are known.\"\r\n\r\nList of surnames:\r\n1. Major Smirnov S.G.\r\n2. Senior Lieutenant Safronov D.V.\r\n3. Senior Lieutenant Panov M. A.\r\n4. Senior Lieutenant Altunin K.N.\r\n5. Senior Lieutenant Osipkin A.V.\r\n6. Senior Sergeant Yepifanov\r\n7. Major General Yeremeyev V.G.\r\n8. Captain First Rank Sachuk A.M.\r\n9. Captain First Rank Moiseyev M.A.\r\n10. Colonel Fedun S.V.\r\n11. Major Morozov A.L.\r\n12. Senior Sergeant Lushkov S.V.\r\n13. Ensign Grigoriev M.A.\r\n14. Captain Gorban K.A.\r\n15. Captain Gaidarkhanov E.S.\r\n16. Junior Sergeant Belov A.I.\r\n17. Senior Sergeant Bogatyryov Z.M.\r\n18. Major Maunev M.I.\r\n19. Captain Pylyonok A.A.\r\n20. Captain Sheintsivt S.V.\r\n21. Major Chagin E.V.\r\n22. Senior Ensign Grabovsky S.V.\r\n23. Captain Trufanov A.V.\r\n24. Major Kukushkin D.I.\r\n25. Senior Lieutenant Shevchenko A.A.\r\n26. Corporal Kolomoytsev I.K.\r\n27. Major Mikryukov V.V.\r\n28. Captain Medic Rasputin N.B.\r\n29. Sergeant Serezhenkov E.A.\r\n30. Junior Sergeant Chapdarov B.R.\r\n31. Senior Lieutenant Levchuk G.S.\r\n\r\nFor some reason the list does not specify the initials of Senior Sergeant Yepifanov.\r\nThe Instagram channel '<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/Bf_lnh1HDr5\/?hl=ru&taken-by=yelansky_garnizon\">yelansky_garnizon'<\/a>\u00a0had its first condolences with the mention of servicemen from the list.\r\n\r\n<img src=\"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/1.jpg\" \/>\r\n\r\n<img src=\"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2.jpg\" \/>\r\nThe entry states that among the dead were former servicemen from the Elanskiy Training Center and a local of the garrison: Major Mikryukov V.V. and Major Kukushkin D.I.\r\nAt the same time, investigative bloggers in social networks do not trust this list yet and continue to seek confirmation or refutation.\r\n\r\n<img src=\"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/5.jpg\" \/>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2016\/08\/InformNapalm_logo_05.png\"><img class=\"alignnone wp-image-8997\" src=\"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2016\/08\/InformNapalm_logo_05.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"121\" height=\"53\" \/><\/a><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em>This publication was prepared by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/anton.pavlushko\">Anton Pavlushko<\/a>\u00a0specially for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/\">InformNapalm<\/a>. Translated by\u00a0GEK, edited by Max Alginin\r\n(<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons \u2014 Attribution 4.0 International \u2014 CC BY 4.0<\/a>)\r\n<strong>Repost and\u00a0share with friends.<\/strong>\r\nFor notifications about InformNapalm investigations follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/informnapalm24\/\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/InformNapalm\">Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12953"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12957,"href":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12953\/revisions\/12957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/informnapalm.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}