Fact Check: Is Yeysk Crash Russia's Tenth Noncombat Aircraft Loss in War?

A Russian warplane crashed into an apartment complex in the Russian city of Yeysk Monday, killing more than a dozen residents of the small port city located a short distance across the Taganrog Gulf in the eastern Sea of Azov from Mariupol, a Ukrainian city that has been the focus of intense conflict during the invasion.

The crash, the result of one of the plane's engines catching fire on takeoff, adds to a growing number of military aircraft Russia is confirmed to have lost during the first eight months of the war.

It was also labeled by some social media accounts and news outlets as "at least" the nation's tenth noncombat aircraft loss to date since Russia invaded Ukraine, following the destruction of a pair of Russian aircraft on October 9.

The Claim

In the aftermath of the crash, which is still being investigated by Russian authorities, social media accounts aggregating news about the war in Ukraine shared the claim that the Su-35 disaster marked a grim milestone for Russia, being the tenth non-combat aviation loss for the country since it began its invasion.

A number of the claims appeared to reference The Bell, an independent Russian news outlet, with a list of crashes with sources to when they occurred, and the type of plane that was involved in each crash, featured in some of the posts.

The Bell had indeed published a report concluding that the crash of the Su-34 warplane into the Yeysk apartment complex moved Russia's noncombat aircraft losses into double figures.

The Facts

The Bell's own accounting of noncombat aircraft losses in the war is robust, and is backed up with primary images as well as statements circulated by official Russian sources or confirmations by state-owned media outlets.

These include everything from an official acknowledgement from the Kremlin about the February 24 crash of an An-26 near the southwestern Russian city of Voronezh to video from the Russian news site Baza, showing an unidentified aircraft apparently rolling off the runway at a Crimean military base on October 1 and exploding.

The full list contains nine cases: The February 24 An-26 in Voronezh; April 8 MiG-31 near Saint-Petersburg; June 17 and 21 Su-25 in Belgorod and in Rostov; June 24 Il-76 in Ryazan; September 11 Su-34 in Crimea; October 1 unknown type of craft in Crimea; and October 9 "double", a Su-24 and Su-34 near Rostov.

However, as comprehensive as it is, The Bell's accounting appears to only take into account Russian losses of two-winged aircraft, including numerous Su-34 and Su-25 fighter planes, one Il-76 transport craft, a MiG-31 interceptor, and an An-26, an old military and civilian transport aircraft last produced in the mid-1980s.

A further list published by the Dutch warfare research group Oryxspioenkop—whose list is based on photographic confirmation of military losses—shows the destruction not only of Russian two-winged aircraft, but of helicopter and drone losses as well.

Taking those into account, the number of noncombat air losses by Russia actually reaches 13—that we know of. That includes Tuesday's incident, but excludes the noncombat loss of an Israeli-designed reconnaissance drone.

The Ruling

Needs Context.

While The Bell is correct that there were at least 10 noncombat aircraft losses so far in the war, the number did not include drones or helicopter losses identified by other reliable sources—or potential losses that have not yet been reported.

FACT CHECK BY NEWSWEEK