A Russian military plane with 91 people on board disappeared from radar above the Black Sea on Sunday morning shortly after taking off, a spokesman from the Ministry of Defense said.
The Tu-154 plane carrying 83 passengers and eight crew took off from Sochi located on the Black Sea, and was en route to Syria.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu was holding a meeting to organize the search effort for the plane, the ministry's press service said.
"All search and rescue services of aviation units of the Southern Military District in Krasnodar and neighboring regions are engaged in aircraft search," the Defense Ministry said according to TASS.
According to Russian news agency TASS, journalists and musicians from the Russian Army's Alexandrov Ensemble were on board.
The musicians were heading to Syria to take part in a New Year's concert in the city of Latakia.
