Russian military aircraft crashes in Black Sea

A Russian military aircraft carrying at least 92 passengers, crashed in the Black Sea on its way to Syria.  

Russia’s Interior Ministry confirmed on Sunday morning that a Russian military aircraft with at least 92 passengers on board crashed into the Black Sea on its way to Syria.

The aircraft crashed shortly after disappearing from radar near the the Russian city of Sochi. Bits and pieces of the plane were already spotted some 50 meters below the surface of the Black Sea and approximately 1.5 kilometers from the Russian coast.

According to the RIA Russian news agency, the Defense Ministry said that many of the passengers were members of the Alexandrov Ensemble military choir. The ensemble was traveling to the Russian Khmeimim air force base in the Latakia province of Syria to perform for Russian military personnel at New Year’s festivities.

Last year, Russia deployed a number of military reinforcements to its bases in and around Latakia in order to help turn the tide of the Syrian civil war heavily in favor of the regime in Damascus.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Sunday that the cause of the crash remains unknown.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

Plane crashRussiaSyrian Civil War