At least 44 people were killed on Wednesday when a Yak-42 plane carrying a hockey team took of from the central Russian city of Yaroslavl crashed moments after take-off, news reports said.
"According to the latest data, there were 45 people on board - 37 passengers and eight crew. Forty-four people died in the crash and one person survived," a police official told the RIA Novosti news agency.
Earlier reports said that 36 people were killed in the crash.
The Yak-42 aircraft was headed from the city north of Moscow to Minsk in Belarus when it crashed, an official at state aviation agency Rosaviatsia said.
The plane was carrying members of a Continental Hockey League (KHL) hockey team based in Yaroslavl, Lokomotiv, to a match in Minsk, Belarus, state-run RIA news agency cited a regional Emergency Situations Ministry official as saying.
Interfax cited a security official as saying the plane caught fire after the crash near the airport.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered Transport Minister Igor Levitin to travel to the site.
The crash occurred while Russia was hosting an international political forum in Yaroslavl that President Dmitry Medvedev was expected to address this week