A Russian warplane has crashed into a fireball near Moscow in a new humiliation for its leader, Vladimir Putin.
The military Il-76 aircraft had eight crew members and seven passengers on board when it crashed to the ground in the Ivanovo region, northeast of Moscow.
Astonishing clips shared by Russian news outlets on messaging platform Telegram show the large plane nearing the ground while in flames.
The cause of the disaster, Russian media claimed, was a fire in one of the engines sparked shortly after the takeoff from the Severny airfield, 3.7 miles north of Ivanovo city.
The plane, on a training flight according to Russian news outlet Baza, stayed in the air for several minutes before disaster struck.
During a turn, the plane’s engine caught fire, prompting the pilot to try and reach once again the Ivanovo airfield.
After realising he could not make it back to the military base, the pilot tried to steer the plane away from residential areas, and eventually crashed near the local cemetery.
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