On the night of Western Christmas, a Russian plane flying to Syria with the Alexandrov ensemble on board crashed

“During a scheduled flight from the airfield to Adler, after takeoff, the mark of the Tu-154 aircraft disappeared. There were 83 passengers and eight crew members on board.”

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About it  The press service of the Ministry of Defense reported to the media.

The departure point of the Tu-154 is the Chkalovsky military airfield in the Moscow region. According to sources, the plane was heading to Syria (to a base in Latakia); landed near Sochi for refueling and technical inspection.

All search and rescue services of the aviation units of the Southern Military District in the Krasnodar Territory and neighboring regions were involved in the search for the Tu-154; Helicopters and search boats are involved. Presumably, the plane fell 5-8 km from the take-off point, over the Black Sea; however, rescuers do not rule out that the emergency could have occurred in the mountainous part of the Krasnodar Territory.

The President of the Russian Federation was informed about the disappearance of the plane from radar. According to the press secretary of the head of state, Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin receives all operational information from emergency services that are conducting search operations. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is holding an emergency meeting via video link with the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces on organizing search activities for TU-154.

At the moment, sources in law enforcement agencies do not name a terrorist attack among the possible reasons for the disappearance of the Tu-154. Preliminary version - technical malfunction or pilot error.

Later, the Russian Ministry of Defense made a statement according to which fragments of the hull and landing gear of the Tu-1,5 aircraft, which disappeared this morning, were found 154 km from the Sochi coast. The debris was found at a depth of 50-70 meters 1,5 km from the coast, the report says. The passengers' personal belongings were also found. Emergency helicopters flew to the suspected site of the plane crash, indicated by an oil slick.

Six kilometers from the coastline, the body of one of the dead was lifted aboard the rescue ship. There are no reports of survivors from the plane crash at this time.

Among the passengers of the missing liner are members of the Russian Army Song and Dance Ensemble. A. Alexandrov, who were supposed to perform in front of the Russian military at the Khmeimim airfield with a New Year's concert program, as well as 9 media representatives. The artistic director of the ensemble, Lieutenant General Valery Khalilov, was also on board. In addition, on flight 85572 a film crew from the First TV Channel flew to Syria: correspondent Dmitry Runkov, cameraman Vadim Denisov and sound engineer Alexander Soydov, three journalists from the Zvezda TV channel, a number of military personnel and public figures.

Reports that the executive director of the Fair Aid Foundation, Elizaveta Glinka (Doctor Lisa), was on board the plane have not yet been confirmed. Elizaveta Glinka was really supposed to fly on this flight, however, according to sources, she did not pass pre-flight control. According to information that has not yet been confirmed, the list of passengers on the Tu-154 also included the head of the military police of the Russian Defense Ministry, Lieutenant General Vladimir Ivanovsky.