"On 31 March at around 18:00 Moscow time, contact was lost with the An-26 military transport aircraft whilst it was on a scheduled flight over the Crimean Peninsula," the defence ministry said.

"The search and rescue team has located the crash site of the An-26 aircraft. According to reports from the scene, the six crew members and 23 passengers on board were killed," the ministry said.

No signs of external impact were found on the aircraft's wreckage, according to the same source, which indicated at this stage that technical failure likely caused the crash.