A hulking Russian An-22 military transport plane crashed today with seven people on board.

The Soviet-era plane came down in Ivanovo region, northeast of Moscow.

Fragments of the stricken aircraft were seen floating in the large Uvod Reservoir, according to reports.

The condition of those on board was not immediately known.

The An-22 was reportedly on a scheduled test flight after repairs.

The emergency services were deployed to the crash site.

The plane was first flown in 1965 and was for a period the largest plane of its kind in the world.

With a NATO reporting name ‘Cock’, the An-22 has a 187ft length and 210ft wingspan, with four turboprops, each driving contra-rotating propellers.

It is capable of carrying payloads of up to 80 tonnes.

The aircraft was supposed to have been phased out by last year but remains in use by Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

Reports said that all seven on board – five crew and two passengers – are presumed dead in the catastrophic crash.

Fragments were found in the waters of the Uvod – or Uvodsky – reservoir and on land.

“The crew did their best to steer the aircraft away from populated areas until the last moment,” reported Mash news outlet.

The plane fell in an uninhabited area.

“The An-22 broke apart into pieces,” reported Shot news.

The cause of the crash was not initially clear.

The emergency services are working at the scene.

This An-22 Antey was “the last operational aircraft of this type in the Russian Armed Forces”.

The plane was reportedly 51 years old.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that a commission from the country’s Aerospace Forces was being dispatched to the crash site to establish all the circumstances of the horror.