Russian Tu-95 crashes on takeoff after engine failure

A Russian Tu-95MS strategic bomber crashed in the Amur region of Russia’s Far East on Sept. 29, killing six of the seven crew members on board.

The bomber went down near the village of Krasnoyarovo after an engine failure during takeoff, according to sources in the Russian military. The sole survivor was taken to hospital. A large fire broke out at the crash site.

Initial reports in Russian media, first published by the Telegram channel Baza, identified the aircraft as a Tu-154 belonging to the Russian Defense Ministry’s Ukrainka air base, with seven people on board. Footage and photos from the crash site that appeared later show the distinctive tail fin of the Tu-95, and the engine sound heard on video matches the Tu-95’s four turboprop engines with counter-rotating propellers.

The Tu-95MS, known by NATO as the Bear-H, is a Soviet-era long-range bomber that carries cruise missiles under its wings and has been used throughout Russia’s full-scale war to launch Kh-101 missiles at Ukrainian cities. The aircraft normally flies with a crew of seven.

Ukrainka, near the Amur River, is Russia’s main base for Tu-95MS bombers in the Far East. It was one of the intended targets of Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb in June 2025, when drones hidden in trucks struck Russian strategic bombers at several air bases. The truck carrying drones toward Ukrainka caught fire in the Amur region before reaching the base.

Engine trouble has brought down Tu-95s from Ukrainka before. In June 2015, a Tu-95MS caught fire and ran off the runway there during its takeoff run after one of its engines exploded, killing crew members and leading Russia to ground its entire Tu-95 fleet. A month later, another Tu-95MS from the base crashed in the Khabarovsk region after three of its four engines failed in flight, killing two of the seven crew.