A helicopter has crashed in Murmansk, injuring four of its eight passengers, according to the Russian Emergencies Ministry.
The incident occurred during its landing approach and the passengers reportedly had to be evacuated by snowmobile.
A source told the Russian TASS news agency: "A helicopter crashed when landing three kilometres from Murmansk airport.
"There were eight people on board, according to preliminary information, four people were injured."
According to the emergency services, the crash was caused by a pilot error or equipment failure.
The Russian Emergencies Ministry said: "Tentatively, there were nine people on board, three of whom were crew members. Rescuers arrived at the site. There were no fatalities, the passengers are being transported by snowmobiles to the village of Lovozero."
Ukrainian station Toronto Television has reported that it was a Mi-8 helicopter "which crashed with eight (according to other data - nine) persons on board."
Similar helicopters have crashed relatively frequently in the region before.
A Mi-2 helicopter on a medical mission crashed in the Kostroma region on 8 November, killing one person on board.
A Mi-8 helicopter crashed during landing in Ulan-Ude, Buryatia, on 16 December. Three people onboard lost their lives.
One person was killed in a crash landing of a private Mi-8 helicopter in the Kemerovo region on 20 February.
Separately, the local government of St. Petersburg said early Tuesday that it was temporarily halting all flight departures and arrivals at the city’s main airport, Pulkovo. It didn't give a reason for the move.
Hours earlier, unconfirmed reports on Russia's Telegram social network referred to the airspace over St. Petersburg being shut down and to Russian warplane overflights.
It wasn't immediately clear whether this was connected to the alleged uptick in drone attacks in Russia’s south.
