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Agence France-Presse

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday praised the sole survivor of a military plane crash as the death toll climbed to 26, after another cadet died and three more bodies were found.
Zelensky went to the scene of the tragedy near the eastern city of Kharkiv where an Antonov An-26 transport plane carrying 20 cadets and seven officers crashed during a training flight on Friday evening.
“Ukraine has lost 26 worthy sons,” Zelensky said on Facebook, referring to the cadets and officers of the Kharkiv National Air Force University.
“It is difficult to find words to express the pain of this loss,” he said, declaring Saturday a day of mourning.


The plane burst into flames on landing around two kilometres from the Chuguiv military airbase.
On Saturday, the death toll rose after three more bodies were found under the charred remains of the plane and one of the two survivors died in hospital from extensive burns.
Zelensky visited the only remaining survivor in a military hospital in Kharkiv, posting a picture of the 20-year-old cadet lying in bed with a bandaged head and right arm.
He said the cadet, Vyacheslav Zolochevsky, “came to his senses near the wreckage of the An-26”.
The plane was destroyed, there was fire, darkness and bodies all around
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
“The plane was destroyed, there was fire, darkness and bodies all around. One of the guys was burning,” he said on Facebook, adding that Zolochevsky rushed to try and save him.
The second cadet died in hospital, the Ukrainian president said as he praised Zolochevsky for his “heroism”. “Ukraine is proud of you!” he said.
Doctors said that Zolochevsky suffered a concussion but his life was not in danger.
Most cadets on board were believed to be between the ages of 19 and 22.

Zelensky said the cause of the crash should be quickly established and called for an “objective” investigation.
Ukraine’s SBU security service said the plane was performing a training flight but the cadets were not involved in piloting it.
The security service, citing preliminary information, said the pilot reported an engine failure and seven minutes later the plane hit the ground.

Defence Minister Andriy Taran said “the plane likely caught the ground with its wing” and then burst into flames.
Citing preliminary information, the defence minister said that one of the sensors in the left engine had failed. He said the final conclusion would be made after authorities analyse the plane’s black boxes.
“Everything went according to plan: the plane was performing a training flight for cadets,” he was quoted as saying by the defence ministry.
He said the instructor was at the wheel and cadets took turns to sit next to the pilot.
Ukraine hostage-taker surrenders after president promotes ‘Earthlings’ show
Taran said the aircraft was made in 1977 but could be operated for three more years without undergoing repairs.
On Friday, the plane made six take-offs and five landings, he said.
A number of foreign leaders including Polish President Andrzej Duda, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell expressed their condolences.
“We send our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the cadets, officers, and crew killed and injured in the An-26 plane crash,” the US embassy in Ukraine said on Facebook.


The town of Chuguiv, with a population of more than 30,000 people, is located around 30 kilometres southeast of Kharkiv.
Chuguiv also lies some 100 kilometres west of the front line where government forces are fighting pro-Russian separatists.
About 24 meters long and with a wingspan of 29 metres, the Antonov An-26 was designed in Soviet-era Ukraine.
Several military planes have crashed during training flights in Ukraine in recent years.


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Ukraine

‘Fire, darkness and bodies all around’: sole survivor of Ukraine plane crash praised as death toll climbs to 26

A general view of the wreckage of the Antonov AN-26 military transport aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force that crashed on Friday. Photo: DPA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) wearing a protective mask looks on on the place of the Antonov-26 transport aircraft crash at Chuhuiv military air base around 30 kilometers southeast of Kharkiv on September 26, 2020. - 23 people including military cadets were killed when a Ukranian air force plane crashed near Kharkiv in the east of the country. The Antonov-26 transport plane was carrying 20 cadets and seven crew when it crashed late on September 25 two kilometres (about one mile) from the Chuguiv military air base near the city of Kharkiv. (Photo by SERGEY BOBOK / AFP)

26 September 2020, Ukraine, Chuhuiv: The wreckage of the Antonov An-26 military aircraft can be seen at the site where it crashed in eastern Ukraine leaving at least 25 dead. Photo: -/Ukrinform/dpa

Air India crash: plane landed too far along runway, investigators say

A view of the wreckage of an Air India Express Boeing 737 after it crashed at Calicut airport on Friday. Photo: EPA

(200808) -- KERALA, Aug. 8, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Medical workers transfer a wounded person at Kozhikode Airport where an Air India Express flight skidded off a runway while landing in the Indian state of Kerala, Aug. 7, 2020. The death toll in Friday evening's plane crash in south India has risen to 18, including the two pilots, as two investigating teams have reached the site to find out the exact reason of the mishap. (Str/Xinhua)

epaselect epa08591106 A view of the wreckage of the of an Air India Express Boeing 737 after it crashed at Calicut International Airport in Kozhikode, India, 08 August 2020. According Indian officials, 18 people were killed after an Air India Express plane from Dubai with 190 people on board skidded off the runway during the landing amid rain and broke into two halves. EPA-EFE/PRAKASH ELAMAKKARA

A view of the wreckage of an Air India Express Boeing 737 after it crashed at Calicut airport on Friday. Photo: AP

Ukraine bus hostage-taker surrenders after president agrees to promote ‘Earthlings’ show on Facebook

A suspected hostage-taker lies on the ground after being detained by law enforcement officers in Lutsk on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

A picture shows bullets holes in the windscreen of a seized bus after police freed all hostages from a bus and arrested the armed man who held them for over 12 hours in the city of Lutsk, some 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the capital Kiev, on July 21, 2020. - The siege of a bus with 13 passengers by an armed man on Tuesday has ended with all the hostages freed, Ukrainian police said. (Photo by YURIY DYACHYSHYN / AFP)

‘I saw fire everywhere’: Survivor recounts how Pakistan plane jolted before crashing in Karachi

One of the two survivors of Friday’s plane crash in Pakistan has described jumping from the burning wreckage after it went down in a residential neighbourhood near Karachi’s international airport. Photo: AP

Family members mourn the death of a relative who was killed in a plane crash, outside a morgue in Karachi, Pakistan May 23, 2020. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro

Volunteers and soldiers look for survivors of a plane crash in a residential area of Karachi, Pakistan, May 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

CORRECTS NUMBER OF PASSENGERS TO NEARLY 100, INSTEAD OF MORE THAN 100 - Soldiers and volunteers collect dead bodies at the site of a crash in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, May 22, 2020. An aviation official says a passenger plane belonging to state-run Pakistan International Airlines carrying nearly 100 passengers and crew crashed near Karachi's airport. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

epa08438576 Pakistani security officials stand guard a day after a passenger plane of state run Pakistan International Airlines crashed in a residential area, in Karachi, Pakistan, 23 May 2020. A Pakistan International Airlines passenger flight with over 100 people on board crashed on 22 May as it was preping to land in the port city of Karachi. According to media reports at least 97 people died in the accident. EPA-EFE/SHAHZAIB AKBER

Pakistan says 97 killed and two survived Karachi plane crash, after ending rescue operation

Security personnel search for victims in the wreckage of a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft after it crashed in a residential area in Karachi on May 22. Photo: AFP

CORRECTS NUMBER OF PASSENGERS TO NEARLY 100, INSTEAD OF MORE THAN 100 - Security personnel retrieve a dead body from the wreckage of a plane that crashed in a residential area of Karachi, Pakistan, May 22, 2020. An aviation official says a passenger plane belonging to state-run Pakistan International Airlines carrying nearly 100 passengers and crew crashed near Karachi's airport. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

TOPSHOT - Rescue workers gather at the site after a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft crashed in a residential area in Karachi on May 22, 2020. - A Pakistani passenger plane with nearly 100 people on board crashed into a residential area of the southern city of Karachi on May 22. (Photo by Rizwan TABASSUM / AFP)

(200522) -- KARACHI, May 22, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers work at the plane crash site in Karachi, Pakistan, May 22, 2020. Rescuers have shifted at least 11 bodies and 15 injured to a hospital after a passenger plane of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) carrying some 100 people crashed in a residential area Friday afternoon in Pakistan's southern port city of Karachi, local media and officials said. (Str/Xinhua)

CORRECTS NUMBER OF PASSENGERS TO NEARLY 100, INSTEAD OF MORE THAN 100 - Volunteers carry an injured person at the site of a plane crash in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, May 22, 2020. An aviation official says a passenger plane belonging to state-run Pakistan International Airlines carrying nearly 100 passengers and crew crashed near Karachi's airport. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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A military transport plane carrying 20 cadets and seven officers crashed during a training flight near the eastern city of Kharkiv on Friday evening
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the only remaining survivor of the tragedy in hospital on Saturday, praising his ‘heroism’



A military transport plane carrying 20 cadets and seven officers crashed during a training flight near the eastern city of Kharkiv on Friday evening.


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