Three people are feared dead after a new helicopter produced by a major Russian military plant dramatically exploded into flames.
One of the country’s top test pilots, Galsan Gomboev, is among three feared dead in the inferno.
A video shows how the Mi-171E helicopter had almost landed at Baikal International Airport in Ulan-Ude.
It suddenly appears to spin around uncontrollably before igniting in a fireball.
The cause of the crash, which happened today, is under investigation at a time when there is an increasing fear of sabotage attacks around Russia linked to the war in Ukraine.
The newly-made helicopter had flown from another airport in the city Vostochny and “caught fire ” while landing.
“There was a crew of three on board. According to preliminary data, there are fatalities,” an emergencies ministry source told TASS.
The multipurpose helicopter has been manufactured at the Ulan-Uda Aviation Plant, a key Russian military supplier.
Some reports said it was about to be handed over to the Chinese government when it exploded.
TASS reported the cause of the crash as an engine fire, according to preliminary data.
Other sources suggested the Mi-171E was caught in a Vortex ring and lost the power to lift.
However the helicopter appears to be on the ground - or almost - when it erupted in flames.
Apart from Gomboev, co-pilot Ilya Baranov and technician Andrey Samokhvalov were reported to be on board.
The Mirror reported in October how a Russian military plane slammed into a block of flats in Yeysk in a region bordering Ukraine.
Video showed an inferno in Krasnodar region after the warplane loaded with ammunition struck the apartment block.
The pilots ejected seconds before the horror.
A dramatic picture shows the parachute of one of the pilots as he came down against a backdrop of the fireball apartment block.
The Su-34 plane hit the residential building on Kommunisticheskaya Street
It was not immediately clear how many casualties there were in the carnage of the blitzed apartment block.
Early reports said one person was killed and three including a child were hospitalised in a grave condition.
A statement from the Russian defence ministry then admitted: “Today, while taking off on a training flight from a military airfield of the Southern Military District, an Su-34 aircraft crashed.
“The plane crashed within the city of Yeysk.
“According to the report of the ejected pilots, the cause of the crash was the ignition of one of the engines during takeoff.
“At the site of the crash of the Su-34 in the courtyard of one of the residential areas, the fuel of the aircraft ignited.”
War Telegram channel Kotsnews said: “It was an Su-34 of the 277th Bombing Aviation Regiment.
“So far, the main version is that it was birds getting into the engines at takeoff.
“The pilots ejected.”
There were “possible casualties among local residents”.
The crash came as people were eating their evening dinner.
He said there were “no rockets on the plane, but there were shells for the cannon".
“Their detonation can be heard on videos,” he added.
The first to fifth floors of the nine-storey block of flats were engulfed in fire, eyewitnesses said.
A daughter called her mother saying: “It fell right over our heads, everything is covered with black smoke.
