The Tu-154 plane of the Russian Defense Ministry disappeared from radar after taking off from the Adler aerodrome. There were 92 people on board: servicemen, the Alexandrov ensemble artists, 9 journalists of Russian mass media, 8 crew members, the news agencies reported. The aircraft was flying to the Hmeymim Air Base in Syria. According to preliminary versions, technical malfunction or pilot error are among the leads in the investigation, RIA Novosti reported.

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     Belarus cannot stand aside from the tragic events in Russia, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said in Minsk.

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“A terrible tragedy happened in Russia yesterday. Unfortunately, this sequence of tragedies was an ill fate for our brotherly nation: a big number of people died in Irkutsk from alcohol poisoning, Russia’s Ambassador was killed in Turkey, a massive loss of life was caused by the crash of the military plane carrying 92 people. Crew members, famous artists, mass media representatives, servicemen and civil servants, a doctor died in the plane crash. Of course, on this day we could not stand aside from these tragic events. The state flags are flown at half mast, entertainment events are abolished in Belarus in solidarity with the Russian nation. There was a huge response to this tragedy from our people who visited the Russian embassy. I think that the number of people coming to the embassy will not decrease, so I want the law enforcement bodies to maintain public order near the embassy. The Book of Condolences was opened at the Russian embassy on 26 December. I am convinced that our civil servants and other people will respond and come to the embassy.”

        The participants of the meeting with the head of state observed a minute of silence to commemorate the victims of the tragedy in Russia.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko also offered condolences to the Russian TV companies who lost their representatives in the plane crash over the Black Sea and to the families and friends of the victims.
Alexander Lukashenko noted that it is difficult to overestimate the importance of the profession of a TV journalist today. It is even more painful to lose the best representatives, those who stay committed to their profession till last second.