Video Shows Russian Il-76 Plane Catching Fire Moments Before Crash

Footage has emerged of what appears to be a Russian Il-76 transport plane crashing after takeoff from an airbase in the city of Ivanovo to the northeast of Moscow on Tuesday.

Several videos taken in the area show the aircraft descending with a fire under one wing and debris—possibly one of its four engines—falling from the plane. The aircraft reportedly crashed producing a large black smoke column.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the crash to the state-run Tass news agency. "According to the report from the scene, the cause of the disaster was a fire in one of the engines during take off of the plane," the ministry said. There were 15 people on board.

Russian pro-war military bloggers reported that the pilots attempted to return to the airfield but were unable to do so. "The cause was most likely a technical malfunction," the Rybar Telegram channel wrote. "Judging by the footage on the Internet, the cause was a fire in one of the engines: the fire was extinguished, but then it fell off in flight."

Tass cited an anonymous emergency service official who reported that all 15 people on board the plane are believed to have died in the crash. No casualties have been reported on the ground where the aircraft came down.

The head of the Ivanovo district, Sergei Nizov, wrote on social media: "Currently there is no threat to the lives of the surrounding population."

The incident appears to add to Russia's growing non-combat aviation losses, with Newsweek finding in August that at least one in five plane losses since the start of Ukraine war were either self-inflicted or accidental.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russia's transport aircraft fleet. The Oryx open-source intelligence website lists six Russian Il-76 aircraft visually confirmed as destroyed since the beginning of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. All were reported damaged on the ground, including several in a night drone attack on the western Russian city of Pskov in August 2023.

As of January 2024, Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said Moscow had around 100 Il-76 aircraft in use.

Tuesday may prove a costly day for the Russian air force, with local reports also suggesting a downed an Su-27 fighter aircraft over Russia's Belgorod border region, where pro-Kyiv Russian fighters have launched fresh cross-frontier raids.

Tuesday's Il-76 crash comes around six weeks after another Russian transport aircraft was shot down near the Ukrainian border. Moscow said the plane was carrying 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war. Oleksii Danilov, Ukraine's national security adviser, said in February there were no prisoners of war on the downed aircraft.