Moment burning Russian military cargo plane carrying 15 crashes after taking off from airbase and ‘engine falls off’

A Russian military transport plane with 15 people on board has crashed shortly after take-off, with dramatic video showing its engine on fire.

The Il-76 cargo plane crashed in Russia’s Ivanovo region, the country’s defense ministry confirmed.

Fire can be seen coming out of what appears to be one of the plane’s engines in footage published by local residents.

Unconfirmed reports suggested an engine had come out of the stricken plane in mid-air, with footage appearing to show a large object falling from the plane and crashing to the ground.

Several videos appear to show smoke pouring out of the plane as it circled the sky, apparently attempting to make an emergency landing.

Subsequent footage shows huge plumes of black smoke rising from what appears to be the crash site.

The number of casualties has not been confirmed, but there are reports circulating of several deaths, with ten bodies found at the scene.

The Il-76 is widely used by the Russian military as a transport aircraft for the war in Ukraine.

According to local residents, the engine of the Il-76 military transport caught fire, after which the plane crashed near the Ivanovo-Severny airport.

Local residents write that dozens of emergency vehicles are on their way to the place where the smoke is coming from.

There were 15 people – eight crew members and seven passengers – on board the crashed Il-76 in the Ivanovo region, media reports.

The plane with a burning engine did not reach the airfield, reports said.

It reportedly crashed in a cemetery near the village of Bogorodskoye.

The Il-76 plane that crashed near Ivanovo was based in Tver.

While taking off from Severny airport, its engine caught fire and it tried to land again, according to reports.

Some believed the plane had been on a ‘training flight’.

Pro-Putin Telegram channel WarGonzo said: ‘It is clear that the plane’s engine caught fire.

‘The cause of the accident is being investigated.

‘An investigation team went to the scene of the accident.

‘The crew steered the falling plane away from the city.

“At the cost of their lives, they were able to prevent the tragedy.

‘For pilots, war is everywhere. Including the back end, where the weather is bad and an emergency can overtake you in the sky above your home.

‘And in this situation you must also find the strength to behave like a man.

‘The hero pilots proved that they are real Russian officers.

‘We express our sincere condolences to the families and friends of the victims.’

According to loyalist SHOT media, the burning Il-76 was steered away from residential buildings by a 34-year-old pilot from Orenburg.

“The pilot was very experienced, had many hours of flight time and his family was proud of him,” a report said.

SHOT said it is feared that all 15 aboard the Il-76 were killed.

Telegram channel Voevoda Veshaet reported: ‘Remarkably, the pilots managed to extinguish the burning engine, but apparently something went wrong and the plane crashed in a forest area near the Severny airfield.’