Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered an inquiry after a military plane crashed into the Black Sea while on route to Syria, killing all 92 people on board, including dozens of Red Army Choir singers, dancers and orchestra members.
The Russian Defence Ministry said one of its Tu-154 Tupolev planes had disappeared from radar screens at 2.25am Irish time, two minutes after taking off from Sochi in southern Russia, where it had stopped to refuel from Moscow, on its way to Syria.
A ministry spokesman told reporters that nobody had survived.
"The area of the crash site has been established. No survivors have been spotted," he said.
Another ministry source told Russian news agencies no life rafts had been found and the plane had not sent an SOS signal.
In televised comments, President Vladimir Putin, speaking in St Petersburg, declared tomorrow a national day of mourning.
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The jet, a Soviet-era Tupolev plane built in 1983, had been carrying 84 passengers and eight crew members.
At least 60 were members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, better known internationally as the Red Army Choir, and were being flown out to Russia's Hmeymim air base in Syria to entertain troops in the run-up to the New Year.
Nine Russian reporters were also on board as well as military servicemen.
Syrian President Bashar al Assad said was "saddened by the crash of a Russian military plane on its way to Syria, but the fight against Islamist militants would not be affected.
In a condolence message sent to President Putin, Mr Assad said the two countries were partners in the "fight to lay the foundations of stability, security and peace" in Syria.
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Fragments of the plane had been found at a depth of about 70 metres in the Black Sea about 1.5km off the coast near the city of Sochi.
Six ships from Russia's Black Sea fleet were on their way to the crash site, and more than 100 divers were being drafted into search the area along with a mini-submarine.
A number of bodies had been recovered from the sea.
Russia's RIA news agency, citing an unidentified security source, said preliminary information indicated that the plane had crashed because of a technical malfunction or a pilot error.
Another source told Russian agencies that the possibility of a militant act had been ruled out. The weather had been good.
According to the defence ministry's passenger manifest, Elizaveta Glinka, a member of Mr Putin's advisory human rights council, was on the plane.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters it was too early to say what had caused the crash. Mr Putin was being kept constantly informed of the latest developments, Mr Peskov said.
Russian military investigators said in a statement they had opened a criminal investigation into the crash.
The Kremlin said Mr Putin expressed his deepest condolences to those who had lost loved ones in the crash and ordered Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to head a government investigatory commission.
Russia's Defence Ministry regularly flies musicians into Syria to put on concerts for military personnel.
The base they were heading for, Hmeymim, is in Latakia province.
It is from there that Russia launches air strikes against Syrian rebels.
The last big TU-154 crash was in 2010 when a Polish jet carrying then-president Lech Kaczynski and much of Poland's political elite crashed in western Russia killing everyone onboard.
Russian news agencies cited Denis Manturov, the Russian Transport Minister, as saying it was premature to talk about withdrawing the TU-154 from service.
