- The plane was attempting an emergency landing shortly after refuelling
- But it erupted in flames in the sky as it flew over the Russian city of Ryazan
- Four of the nine crew were killed while the others are in a 'grave' state in hospital
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As it landed behind residential tower blocks it explodes in flames and smoke, killing at least four of the nine crew
A massive Russian Il-76 cargo plane has crashed en route to Ukraine, killing four crew, as it exploded into a huge fireball in the sky.
The Ilyushin-76 was attempting an emergency landing in Ryazan shortly after refuelling in the city.
But the plane erupted in flames as it flew overhead while on a flight to supply Vladimir Putin's war effort.
A massive Russian Il-76 cargo plane has crashed en route to Ukraine, killing four crew, as it exploded into a huge fireball in the sky
The Ilyushin-76 (file image) was attempting an emergency landing in Ryazan shortly after refuelling in the city
A dramatic video shows a burning Russian military transport plane crash-landing on
As it landed behind residential tower blocks it explodes in flames and smoke, killing at least four of the nine crew.
Others remain in a 'grave' situation in hospital.
Voices filming the stricken plane are heard saying: 'Its all in flames, look.'
And: 'It's flying at us… So scary, it's flying at us… It's going to hit the houses, look…
'This is it (the plane hits the ground).'
As it landed behind residential tower blocks it explodes in flames and smoke, killing at least four of the nine crew
The plane erupted in flames as it flew overhead while on a flight to supply Vladimir Putin's war effort
The Ilyushin was en route from Orenburg to Belgorod, close to the war zone, when it crashed.
Reports say it suffered engine failure following the refuelling stop but a full investigation is underway.
Belgorod is the capital of a Russian region of the same name bordering Ukraine.
The three who died at the crash site were named as Vladimir Petrushin, Nikolai Gorbunov, and Dmitry Andreev.
One more crew member died in hospital.
Such Ilyushin aircraft have been used in recent months for transporting military equipment to the war zone.
Ryazan is 125 miles southeast of Moscow and not close to the war zone.
The three who died at the crash site were named as Vladimir Petrushin, Nikolai Gorbunov, and Dmitry Andreev, while another died in hospital
The city is a key base for Russian paratroopers, who have suffered significant losses in the war in Ukraine.
The crash site field was near shops and residential buildings but there were understood to be no casualties on the ground.
The cause of the crash was under investigation early today.
It comes as Ukrainian forces will retreat from Severodonetsk in the face of a brutal Russian offensive that is reducing the battleground city to rubble, a senior Ukrainian official said today.
The news came shortly after the European Union made a strong show of support for Ukraine, granting the former Soviet republic candidate status, although there is still a long path ahead to membership.
Capturing Severodonetsk, in the Donbas region, has become a key goal of the Russians as they focus their offensive on eastern Ukraine after being repelled from Kyiv following their February invasion.
The strategically important industrial hub has been the scene of weeks of street battles as the outgunned Ukrainians put up a fierce defence.
An aerial view of destroyed houses near Hostomel Avenue as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues in Irpin
But Sergiy Gaiday - governor of Lugansk, which includes the city - said the Ukrainian military would have to retreat.
'They have received an order to do so,' he said on Telegram.
'Remaining in positions that have been relentlessly shelled for months just doesn't make sense.'
The city has been 'nearly turned to rubble' by continual bombardment, he added.
'All critical infrastructure has been destroyed. Ninety percent of the city is damaged, 80 percent (of) houses will have to be demolished,' he said.
The Ukrainians had already been pushed back from much of the city, leaving them in control of only industrial areas.
Capturing Severodonetsk and its twin city of Lysychansk would give the Russians control of Lugansk, and allow them to push further into the wider Donbas.
Gaiday said the Russians were now advancing on Lysychansk, which has been facing increasingly heavy Russian bombardment.
AFP journalists driving out of the city Thursday twice had to jump out of cars and lie on the ground as Russian forces shelled the city's main supply road.
They saw dark smoke rising over the road ahead, and heard artillery fire and saw flashes of light, while the road was strewn with trees felled by shelling.
Russia continued its massive assault in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region today on the four-month anniversary of Putin launching his savage invasion
A woman walks past a shell crater in front of a damaged residential building in the town of Siversk, Donetsk
The situation for those that remain in the city was increasingly bleak.
Liliya Nesterenko said her house had no gas, water or electricity and she and her mother were cooking on a campfire. She was cycling along the street, and had come out to feed a friend's pets.
But the 39-year-old was upbeat about the city's defences: 'I believe in our Ukrainian army, they should (be able to) cope.
'They've prepared already.'
A representative of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine earlier told AFP the resistance of Ukrainian forces trying to defend Lysychansk and Severodonetsk was 'pointless and futile'.
'At the rate our soldiers are going, very soon the whole territory of the Lugansk People's Republic will be liberated,' said Andrei Marochko, a spokesman for the Moscow-backed army of Lugansk.
With Ukraine pleading for accelerated weapon deliveries, the United States announced it was sending another $450 million in fresh armaments, including Himars rocket systems.
The systems can simultaneously launch multiple precision missiles at an extended range.
At a Brussels summit Thursday, EU leaders granted candidate status to Ukraine, as well as Moldova.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the news as 'a unique and historic moment', adding: 'Ukraine's future is within the EU.'
French President Emmanuel Macron said the decision by EU leaders sent a 'very strong signal' to Russia that Europeans support the pro-Western aspirations of Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin had declared Ukraine to be part of Moscow's sphere and insisted he was acting due to attempts to bring the country into NATO, the Western alliance that comes with security guarantees.
European powers before the invasion had distanced themselves from US support for Ukraine's NATO aspirations, and EU membership is at least years away.
Ukraine and Moldova will have to go through protracted negotiations and the European Union has laid out steps that Kyiv must take even before that, including bolstering the rule of law and fighting corruption.
Western officials have also accused Russia of weaponising its key exports of gas as well as grain from Ukraine, contributing to global inflation and rising hunger in the world.
A US official warned of new retaliatory measures against Russia at the Group of Seven summit being attended by President Joe Biden in Germany starting Sunday.
Germany ratcheted up an emergency gas plan to its second alert level, just one short of the maximum that could require rationing in Europe's largest economy, after Russia slashed supplies.
'Gas is now a scarce commodity,' German Economy Minister Robert Habeck told reporters, urging households to cut back on use.
Demand for gas is lower in the summer but shortages could cause problems with heating in the winter.
A Kremlin spokesman reiterated its claim that the supply cuts were due to maintenance and that necessary equipment from abroad had not arrived.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10948727/Russian-Il-76-cargo-plane-crashes-way-Ukraine-catching-fire-mid-air-killing-four.html
PLANE
INFERNO
Four killed
after Russian military plane crashes ‘en route to Ukraine’ as pics show
fireball wreckage
A RUSSIAN military plane has crashed in the west of the country killing four people.
The Ilyushin-76 aircraft reportedly burst in flames before crash-landing in a field, sparking a major emergency response.
A fiery inferno was seen at the crash site in Ryazan, southeast of Moscow.
The plane is said to have burst into flames mid-air and circled for a period before crash landing.
Dramatic video shows the burning plane plummeting to earth as a blazing fireball.
As it crashes behind a row of residential tower blocks, flames and an enormous plume of black smoke rise into the sky.
In the video, the voices of eyewitnesses are heard as they watch the stricken aircraft.
"It's all in flames, look," one voice says. "It's flying at us."
Another says: "So scary, it's flying at us. It's going to hit the houses, look."
The pilot appeared to be attempting an emergency landing of the blazing plane.
Although the crash site was close to shops and residential buildings, the pilot managed to avoid any casualties on the ground.
It was believed to be en route to the war in Ukraine with nine on board after refueling in Ryazan when it crashed.
Three passengers died in the crash while the survivors were rushed to hospital after being dragged from the blazing wreckage.
A fourth died in hospital while a further five are said to be in a "grave" condition.
The plane is said to have set off from Orenburg in Belgorod before stopping to refuel in Ryazan, a key base for Russian paratroopers 125 miles southeast of Moscow.
Ilyushin-76s have been used in recent months to transport military equipment from Russia to the frontline in Ukraine.
It isn't clear yet what equipment the plane was carrying when it crashed.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/18988162/russia-plane-crash-ryazan-ilyushin-ukraine-war/
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