Four people were killed on board a light training aircraft that crashed  in the Kolomna district of Russia’s Moscow region. 

Aircraft went down due to engine failure

According to the disaster management ministry, the aircraft, Yakovlev Yak-18T, descended into a field due to engine failure and caught fire.

According to The Times of India, the aircraft did not receive clearance prior to takeoff. It took off from Severka airfield.

Russian plane with prisoners crashed

Last year, a Russian military transport plane with 74 people on board, including 65 Ukrainian Prisoners of War (PoWs), crashed in Belgorod region of Russia , the country’s defence ministry said as reported by news agency TASS.

The crash took place at about 8 am GMT and the Russian news agency cited the governor of the region, stating on his Telegram channel that the incident occurred in the Korocha district, situated near the country’s border with Ukraine and all aboard the military plane Ilyushin-76 were killed.

‘Ilyushin-76 transport plane crashed’

“On January 24 this year an Ilyushin-76 transport plane crashed in the Belgorod Region during a scheduled flight at about 11 a.m. Moscow time (8 a.m. GMT). There were 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were being moved to the Belgorod Region for an exchange, and three escorts on board,” Russia’s Defence Ministry said as cited by TASS.

However, the official Ukrainian information service, citing sources in Kiev military claimed that the Soviet-era military plane was carrying missiles for the Russian S-300 air defence system, CNN said that it has not verified either side’s claim.

Washington Post quoted senior Russian officials who without, providing evidence said it was shot down by Ukrainian forces using either German or US-made missiles.”