Officers involved in strikes on Ukraine were among eight killed in Tu-95MS crash in Russia

Eight military personnel were killed when a Tu-95MS strategic bomber crashed in Russia's Amur Oblast on 29 September. At least three of them were officers involved in combat missions or their preparation, according to the Book of Executioners, a Ukrainian project documenting Russian war criminals and people who betrayed Ukraine.

Source: Russian media outlets Mediazona and The Insider

Details: Russian media outlets reported that the names of those killed had been posted in the Selskiye Novosti (Rural News) social media group for Seryshevo, a settlement near the Ukrainka strategic air base. OSINT analyst duke garland was the first to flag the post.

A photo featuring the portraits of the eight men killed was also released by Mikhail Piven, head of the Mazanovsky district in Amur Oblast. He said the local authorities would ask the long-range aviation command to put the crew forward for state awards.

Mediazona verified the list and confirmed that all eight served in Russia's strategic aviation.

According to the media outlets, those killed are:

• Andrei Lobanov, 40
• Vladislav Moskovskikh, 31
• Artur Yenokian, 30
• Mikhail Kotyshev, 23
• Sergei, 47, whose surname is reported as Monsevich by Mediazona and Moisevich by The Insider
• Vladimir Kelip, 55
• Fedor Pavlyukov, 43
• Andrei Gerasimov, 36.

The OSINT analyst believes the portraits in the announcement follow the standard order in which Tu-95MS crew members are listed. On that basis, Lobanov was the crew commander, Moskovskikh the co-pilot, Yenokian the navigator, Kotyshev the navigator-operator (responsible for operating the bomber's mission systems), Monsevich the flight engineer, and Kelip the radio operator. Pavlyukov and Gerasimov were likely passengers or inspectors.

Mediazona says the quality of the photograph makes it difficult to establish the military ranks of all those killed with certainty.

The Insider checked the names against the Ukrainian Book of Executioners database and found Lobanov, Pavlyukov and Gerasimov in its records. Details about them had been added before the plane crashed.

As of November 2025, Major Andrei Lobanov was listed in the database as the deputy commander of a Tu-95MS squadron of the 182nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment, based at the Ukrainka airfield. According to the project, he directly commanded the unit and personally participated in combat missions.

Read more: A dying breed: can the Russians rebuild their strategic aircraft after Ukraine's Operation Spider's Web?

Lieutenant Colonel Fedor Pavlyukov is listed as the regiment's deputy commander for flight training. He commanded a Tu-95MS squadron from August 2021 to April 2024. According to the project, he was responsible for preparing flight personnel for combat missions and directly led the unit.

Furthermore, in March 2022, Ukrainian intelligence included Pavlyukov on a list of Russian long-range aviation pilots who, according to its data, were being prepared to participate in the war against Ukraine.

Andrei Gerasimov is listed in the Book of Executioners as a major and commander of a Tu-95MS squadron in the 121st Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment. According to the database, he commanded the unit and personally took part in combat missions. However, Mediazona's casualty list gives his rank as lieutenant colonel.

Ukrainian serviceman and blogger Anatolii Shtefan also reported that at least three of those killed were involved in organising and executing missile strikes on Ukraine. Shtefan did not specify whom exactly he was referring to.

According to Port Amur, cited by The Insider, there were nine military personnel on board. The bodies of two of the crew members were not found immediately. The Russian Ministry of Defence initially reported six dead and one taken to hospital.

Background:

• On 29 September, the Tu-95MS crashed near the village of Krasnoyarovo in the Mazanovsky district in Amur Oblast.
• The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that the bomber was conducting a training flight without ammunition when it crashed in an unpopulated area. Regional authorities said the crew steered the aircraft away from residential buildings, and no one on the ground was injured.
• The Russian Defence Ministry sent an Aerospace Forces commission to the site to establish what caused the crash. Kommersant reported that investigators had tentatively attributed it to a technical malfunction. The Insider notes, however, that no conclusions about the cause of the crash have been publicly confirmed.
• According to Mediazona, most of those killed had served at the Engels strategic bomber airbase in Saratov Oblast before moving to the Ukrainka airbase. According to the outlet, Russia began pulling its strategic bombers out of Engels after Ukraine launched its first drone attacks on the airfield.
• After the Security Service of Ukraine carried out Operation Spider's Web, the Ukrainka airbase in Russia's Far East became one of the main bases for its strategic aviation. According to The Insider, a Tu-95MS combat mission from the base, involving stopovers at Engels or Olenya airfield, missile launches and the return flight, can cover more than 12,000 km and last around 23 hours. The outlet notes that flights of this length accelerate wear on the aircraft and their engines, shortening their service life.

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Originally reported by Ukrainska Pravda by Anastasia Prots. Read the full story at the source.