A Russian strategic bomber crashed during a training mission in the country’s Far East on Tuesday, resulting in six fatalities among the crew, according to a statement from the Defense Ministry. The aircraft, a Tu-95 nuclear-capable bomber, went down in an uninhabited area of the Amur region, near the village of Krasnoyarovo on the Zeya River close to the border with China.

The ministry confirmed that one crew member survived the incident and was taken to a hospital with injuries. It also noted that the bomber was not carrying any weapons at the time of the crash. An investigative team has been dispatched to the site to determine the cause of the accident.

Local authorities reported that the pilots took measures to steer the plane away from residential areas before the crash. "The pilots did all they could to steer the plane away from residential buildings," the Amur regional administration said in a statement.

The Tu-95, introduced during the Cold War era, remains a core component of Russia’s long-range strategic bomber fleet. The turboprop bomber is capable of carrying nuclear weapons and has been extensively employed by the Russian military to launch conventionally armed cruise missiles against targets in Ukraine since the conflict began over four and a half years ago.

In related developments, several Tu-95 bombers were reportedly destroyed or damaged during Ukraine’s “Operation Spiderweb” in June 2025, when drones covertly launched from trucks targeted Russian air bases that house the strategic bombers. The operation highlighted vulnerabilities in Russia’s long-range aviation assets amid ongoing hostilities.