After taking off from the town of Sochi, a Russian military plane carrying the world-famous Red Army Choir to Syria crashed into the Black Sea on Christmas morning minutes. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a day of mourning after the crashing of plane.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that all 92 aboard apparently died. As per the Tass News Agency that Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov arrived in Sochi on Sunday to convene an investigative mission.
As per the AP, Viktor Ozerov who is the head of the defense affairs committee at the upper house of Russian parliament, downplayed the possibility of terrorism.
Ozrey said that the Tu-154 plane was operated by the military, so the crash may have stemmed from a mechanical problem or a crew error.
As per the reports of AP that two minutes after the taking off from the Sochi, the plane was disappeared from radar. The crash site is less than a mile from the shore.
As per the state owned broadcaster RT that also on board was humanitarian activist Elizaveta Glinka.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokewoman – Maria Zakharova said that Glinka was a social and political activist, but she was outside any politics, above any politics.
In a statement, The Russian Defense Ministry said that recovery crews pulled several bodies from the water as drones, divers, helicopters and ships searched for the remains of other passengers.
