Russia's space agency Roscosmos has said that its Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after it ran into "unspecified trouble", the media reported on Sunday.
While entering a pre-landing orbit, the spacecraft ran into unspecified issues and "spun into an uncontrolled orbit", reports Mirror.
Earlier, the spacecraft encountered an "abnormal situation" as it was preparing to transfer to its pre-landing orbit to the moon.
"During the operation an emergency occurred on the space probe that did not allow it to perform the manoeuvre in accordance with the required parameters," Roscosmos said in a statement on Saturday.
The Luna-25 entered the moon's orbit on Wednesday.
Luna-25 took off atop a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from the Vostochny launch facility in Russia at 2.10 a.m. Moscow time (4.40 a.m. IST) on August 11, TASS news agency reported.
Russia's last lunar mission, Luna-24 was launched in 1976, during the former Soviet Union period.
With Luna-25, Russia aimed to be the first nation to make a soft landing on the lunar south pole.
Moreover, Luna-25 was slated to touch down around the same time, and in the same general area, as India's Chandrayaan 3 probe, which launched on July 14 and arrived in lunar orbit on August 6.
Media reports quoted Roscosmos as saying that the Luna-25 will not impede Chandrayaan-3, as the two missions will land on different areas. It added that there was enough space on the Moon for everyone.
Meanwhile, the US space agency NASA also plans to establish one or bases near the moon's south pole by the end of the 2020s, via its Artemis programme.
Luna-25 is expected to reach the Moon’s orbit on August 16 before landing on August 21.
Crew on seized cargo ship to be released soon, assures Iran Foreign Minister
The 16 remaining Indian crew members on board a cargo ship seized by Iran are set to be released soon, Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian assured his Portuguese counterpart Paulo Rangel in a telephonic conversation on Saturday.
1,500 Sikhs join BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, Punjab
In a significant development, 1,500 members from the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, along with Singh Sabha and other Sikh organisations, joined BJP on Saturday, just weeks ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Delhi and Punjab.
TMC writes to ECI complaining about CBI, NSG ops at Sandeshkhali during second phase of polls
The Trinamool Congress on Saturday wrote to the Election Commission of India (ECI) opposing the CBI and National Security Guard (NSG) raids at Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas District on Friday and expressed apprehensions that the central agencies might have 'planted' weapons at the search site to 'defame it' when the second phase of Lok Sabha polls were underway.
2 CRPF personnel killed in attack by armed group in Manipur
Two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, including a Sub Inspector, were killed and two others have been injured after armed groups attacked a camp of security forces in Manipur’s Bishnupur district early on Saturday, police said.
Land subsidence leaves 350 people homeless in J&K’s Ramban District
Over 350 people in Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K’s) Ramban District abandoned their homes on Saturday after destruction of the houses due to land subsidence.
Houthi leader vows to continue maritime attacks, calls Indian Ocean 'new theatre of confrontation'
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen's Houthi group, has vowed to continue its naval operations in the Red Sea, rejecting media reports suggesting a decrease in Houthi maritime attacks, the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported.
Second phase of Lok Sabha polls sees enthusiastic voter turnout from Jammu to Kerala, Maharashtra to Tripura
The BJP, holding a significant number of seats in this phase, considers these elections crucial for maintaining and expanding its influence to secure a substantial majority in the Lok Sabha.
EC suspends 26 Tripura govt staff for taking part in political events, violation of poll code
The Election Commission (EC) has so far suspended 26 Tripura government employees, including security personnel, for participating in political events, election campaigns, and violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC),