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FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016 file photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, stands with doctor Yelizaveta Glinka after giving her a state award at the award presentation ceremony for charity and human rights achievements in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. A Russian plane with 92 people aboard, including a well-known military band, crashed into the Black Sea on its way to Syria on Sunday, Dec. 25, minutes after takeoff from the resort city of Sochi, the Defense Ministry said. Glinka, widely known for her charity efforts, was among those on board the Tu-154 plane. Her foundation said she was accompanying a shipment of medicines for a Syrian hospital. (Alexei Nikolsky/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File) (The Associated Press)
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This photo taken on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015 shows the Tu-154 plane with registration number RA-85572 at Chkalovsky military airport near Moscow, Russia. A Russian plane with 92 people aboard, including a well-known military band, crashed into the Black Sea on its way to Syria on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016, minutes after takeoff from the resort city of Sochi, the Defense Ministry said. The Tu-154, the same plane shown in this photo, which belonged to the Defense Ministry, was taking the Alexandrov Ensemble to a concert at the Russian air base in Syria. (AP Photo/Dmitry Petrochenko) (The Associated Press)
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This undated combined official photo released by Russian Channel One Press Service shows the Channel One crew members, from left, Dmitrii Runkov, Vadim Denisov and Alexander Soidov. A Russian plane with 92 people aboard, including a well-known military band, crashed into the Black Sea on its way to Syria on Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016, minutes after takeoff from the resort city of Sochi, the Defense Ministry said. Russian journalists, including the three TV crew members, were among 92 people on board the Tu-154 plane. (Russian Channel One Press Service Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)
MOSCOW – The Latest on the crash of the Russian Tu-154 aircraft (all times local):
9:45 a.m.
The Russian Defense Ministry says rescuers have found fragments of the Tu-154 plane that was carrying 91 people en route to the Russian military base in Syria.
The ministry said earlier that the plane disappeared from radars shortly after takeoff from the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Sunday. It carried eight crew and 83 passengers, including members of the world-famous Alexandrov military choir.
The ministry says rescue teams found fragments of the plane at a distance of about 1.5 kilometers (less than a mile) from shore at a depth of 50-70 meters.
