A military transport plane carrying air force cadets has crashed and burst into flames near a highway in northeastern Ukraine, killing at least 22 people on board

The Antonov An-26 aircraft crashed while trying to land during a training exercise.

At least two more people were critically injured.

Video posted by the Interior Ministry on Facebook showed the plane in flames lying near a road and smoke billowing upwards in the night sky.

One pilot had reported failure in the left engine of the twin-engined plane but experts say this would not have been a critical situation for an experienced pilot.