Direct proof of use
Ukraine operated the An-26 as a military transport aircraft during the Donbas phase of the war. Reuters reported that a Ukrainian AN-26 taking part in the campaign against separatist rebels was shot down on July 14, 2014, and AP separately reported that the aircraft was a Ukrainian military transport downed along the eastern border with Russia.
Ukraine also raised the incident in the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation. Its July 16, 2014 statement said an AN-26 of the Ukrainian armed forces had been shot down in the ATO zone and that Ukrainian military aircraft flights there were temporarily suspended after the incident.
Sources: Reuters Ukrainian AN-26 downed July 2014, AP Ukraine An-26 shootdown, OSCE Ukraine FSC Statement July 2014
Russian aircraft in occupied Crimea
The aircraft type also appears on the Russian side through later Ukrainian strike reporting. The Kyiv Independent reported Ukrainian military-intelligence claims that HUR special forces destroyed two Russian An-26 transport aircraft and two radar stations in a drone attack in occupied Crimea on September 25, 2025.
That reporting identifies the aircraft as Russian transport aircraft and places the attack in occupied Crimea, tying the documented An-26 losses to the same broader Russia-Ukraine War rather than to a separate theater.
Sources: Kyiv Independent Russian An-26 Crimea strike
