A Russian military aircraft crashed into the Black Sea on its way to Syria on Sunday, and none of the 92 people on board were expected to have survived, according to the Russian defence ministry.
Among those on board the Tupolev-154 were members of the well-known Alexandrov Choir, who were to perform at Hmeymim air base. From that base, in Latakia province, Russia has flown most of the air strikes that ultimately helped turn the Syrian civil war in favour of president Bashar al-Assad.
The aircraft, which had come from Moscow, departed from Sochi at 5.30am local time after a refuelling stop and disappeared from the radar within minutes. By mid-morning the defence ministry said a search mission had spotted the wreckage and some bodies off the Black Sea coast.