The Luna-25 probe, Russia's first moon mission in almost 50 years, has crashed on the moon after an incident during pre-landing manoeuvres, the Russian space agency (Roscosmos) has said.
Communication with Luna-25 was lost at 2:57pm (11:57 GMT) on Saturday, Roscosmos said.
According to preliminary findings, the lander "has ceased to exist following a collision with the moon's surface", Roscosmos said on Sunday.
"Measures taken on August 19 and 20 to locate the craft and make contact with it were unsuccessful." The space agency said an investigation would be launched into the causes of the crash, without giving any indication of what technical problems might have occurred.
With Luna-25, Moscow had hoped to build on the legacy of its Soviet-era Luna programme, marking a return to independent lunar exploration in the face of growing isolation from the West.
Source: Qatar News Agency