Russia is observing on Dec. 26 a nationwide day of mourning in remembrance of 92 people, who died in a passenger aircraft crash near the resort city of Sochi in the early hours of Dec. 25.
All national flags in the country will be flying half-mast, while all cultural and entertainment activities dedicated to upcoming New Year festivities will be cancelled, including on national television channels.
The Russian Defense Ministry’s Tu-154 plane disappeared from radar screens at 05.40 a.m. Moscow time (02.40 a.m. GMT) shortly after taking off from the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
No survivors in military plane crash near Sochi
There were 92 people on board the aircraft in total, including eight crew members and 84 passengers. Among the passengers was the Executive Director of the Spravedlivaya Pomoshch (Fair Aid) charity fund, Elizaveta Glinka, better known to the Russian public as Dr. Liza, as well as military servicemen and nine reporters, from Russian television channels Channel One, Zvezda and NTV.
The plane was also carrying members of the famous Alexandrov Ensemble, an official army choir of the Russian Armed Forces. The ensemble was on its way to celebrate the New Year with the group of Russia’s Aerospace Forces at the Hmeymim air base in Syria. The choir’s conductor Valery Khalilov was also among the passengers.
Source: Tass