A Russian military transport plane crashed on Tuesday during a test flight shortly after undergoing repair works, the country’s defence ministry announced.
The AN-22 aircraft, described as one of the military’s large-capacity transport planes, went down in the Ivanovo region, a location about 200 kilometres east of Moscow.
According to the TASS state news agency, seven individuals were on board at the time of the incident, but their fate remained unclear as of press time.
The defence ministry, in a statement quoted by Russian state media, said: “Today in the Ivanovo region, during a test flight following repairs, an AN-22 military transport aircraft crashed.”
The ministry added that the aircraft “went down in an uninhabited area,” suggesting that no civilians were affected.
Authorities confirmed that search-and-rescue teams had been dispatched to the crash site. An official investigation has also been launched to determine the cause of the accident.
Officials stressed that there was no indication that the crash was connected to Russia’s ongoing offensive in Ukraine or any alleged involvement by Kyiv. For now, investigators are focusing on technical issues linked to the test flight and post-repair performance of the aircraft.
Meanwhile, fresh details emerging from diplomatic and military sources have revealed the real reasons behind the sudden detention of a Nigerian Air Force C-130 aircraft and 11 military personnel in Burkina Faso, despite the jet having received emergency clearance to land.
Contrary to the narrative pushed out by Burkina Faso’s state news agency on Monday, PRNigeria gathered that the NAF aircraft neither “violated” Burkinabe airspace nor entered the country without authorisation.
The jet, which departed Lagos en route to Portugal, developed a technical fault mid-flight and immediately sought permission to land in the nearest safe airport, in line with international aviation protocols.
Clearance was granted. The crew landed safely in Bobo-Dioulasso, where Burkinabe officials received them warmly, provided accommodation, and fully cooperated with engineers who worked overnight to fix the aircraft.
Sources told PRNigeria that “everything had been concluded” and the jet was preparing for takeoff when a sudden counter-order came from Burkina Faso’s military authorities, instructing local officers to halt the Nigerian aircraft’s departure.
It was at this point, insiders say, that the issue shifted from aviation to geopolitics.
Burkina Faso, now a member of the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) along with Mali and Niger, has had strained relations with the Nigerian-led ECOWAS bloc following its withdrawal from the regional body earlier this year.
Diplomats familiar with the development told PRNigeria that Ouagadougou’s decision to detain the aircraft was not driven by aviation concerns but by deeper political frustrations within the Sahel alliance.
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