Ukraine: 22 people died in military plane crash, 4 still missing

(Patria) – The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine confirmed that 22 people lost their lives in the crash of a military plane, while two people were seriously injured, and four are still missing.

The accident occurred on Friday at 20:50 local time, near the eastern city of Chuhuyiv in the Kharkiv region, 2 kilometers from the military airport.

The 28 people on board the AN-26 aircraft were military pilots and cadets from the Kozhedub Air Force University.

Immediately after the accident, firefighters, rescue teams, and units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrived at the scene, where police cordons were already in place.

The aircraft, which was completely engulfed in flames, was extinguished by 22:00.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on his Facebook profile that the government had appointed a commission to investigate "all circumstances and causes" of the accident, which he called a "terrible tragedy," and announced that he would be at the scene on Saturday.

The Antonov AN-26 is a twin-engine civilian and military aircraft produced near Kyiv between 1969 and 1986, when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, Euronews reports.