THIS is the incredible moment that a Russian plane is gutted by a large excavator.

It has been widely rumoured that the UTair aeroplane was destroyed by an irate airport worker.

The story circulated online that after being fired from his job, the employee decided to smash up the Yak-40 in revenge.

But viewers have been sceptical of the tall tale, The Sun reports.

Some online commenters say that the excavator was disposing of an old model of plane which had been pulled from use.

In the shocking video, a yellow excavator raises its claw towards the three-engined craft, which stands alongside similar models.

Russian airport worker destroys plane after getting fired. pic.twitter.com/m9iFVk5yGv — Only In Russia (@CrazyinRussia) April 25, 2016

The arm of the excavator then plunges into the front of the aeroplane several times, opening a large hole near the cockpit.

The 30-second video shows the plane rocking up and down as it is gutted by the excavator.

The video claims that the jet costs $6.6 million and was destroyed by an airport worker who was fired.

But viewers have questioned whether this description is truthful.

The video emerged on Live Leak in February 2015 with the cryptic title “Pilot owed some money tractor driver”.

One commenter on Live Leak said: “UTair doesn’t currently have any active Yak-40s in their fleet. I’m guessing these are defunct aircraft.

“The Yak-40 resale price is less than 5 million so maybe they aren’t worth selling or nobody wants to purchase them. Besides, looks like the engines have already been repurposed.”

Another viewer said: “Also, they’re massively reducing their fleet during 2015 so this footage is probably just Russia’s way of recycling scrap aluminium.”

This story was originally published in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.