Russia's unmanned Luna-25 spacecraft has crashed into the Moon after spinning out of control, BBC reported.
It was Russia's first Moon mission in almost 50 years.
The craft was due to be the first ever to land on the Moon's south pole, but failed after encountering problems as it moved into its pre-landing orbit.
It was set to explore a part of the Moon which scientists think could hold frozen water and precious elements.
Roscosmos, Russia's state space corporation, said on Sunday morning that it had lost contact with the Luna-25 shortly after 14:57pm (11:57 GMT) on Saturday. Preliminary findings showed that the 800kg lander had "ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the surface of the Moon", it said in a statement.
Russia was racing to the Moon's south pole against India, whose Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is scheduled to land on there next week. The surface area of the Moon's south pole that remains permanently in shadow is much larger than on the Moon's north pole, which makes finding water there more likely.
The spacecraft, which was launched on August 11, successfully entered the moon's orbit on Wednesday of this week.
It was expected to make history by making a soft landing on Monday or Tuesday, just days before the Indian touchdown.
No country has ever landed on the Moon's south pole before, although both the US and China have landed softly on the Moon's surface.
Luna-25 was Russia's first Moon mission since 1976, when it was part of the Soviet Union. That mission, Luna-24, landed successfully. (with inputs from BBC)
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