ROC prays for victims dead in Tu-154 crash in Sochi

December 26, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia pray for the repose of all those dead in the air crash of the plane of the Russian Defense Ministry Tu-154 in the Black Sea. Commemoration services will be held in all churches of the ROC, reports RIA Novosti.

December 26 is declared in Russia a day of national mourning for the crash victims.

According to the head of the patriarchal press service priest Alexander Volkov, with the blessing of Patriarch Kirill commemoration prayer will be lifted up on Monday in all temples of the ROC.

Later, the press service spread the patriarch's condolences to relatives of the victims. "May the Lord comfort all those who were touched by this horrible tragedy and strengthen the relatives of those dead to go through the trial," the letter of condolences reads.

Russia's Defense Ministry reported on the morning of December 25 that the aircraft Tu-154 which was carrying out a scheduled flight from the airport of Adler disappeared from radar. The plane was en route from Moscow to the Syrian province of Latakia. It made a refueling stop at an airport in the Russian resort city of Adler. The Defense Ministry authorities clarified that the fragments Tu-154 plane had been found in 1.5 km from the Black Sea coastline of Sochi at a depth of 50-70 meters.

According to specified data of the military department, there were 92 people on board: 8 crew members and 84 passengers, most of whome were members of the famous army choir of the Russian Armed Forces, the Alexandrov Ensemble, who were traveling from Moscow to Hmeymim airbase in Syria to put on a New Year concert for Russian troops deployed there. Nine journalists from Russian TV channels First Channel, NTV and Zvezda (Star), two federal officials and the well-known Russian humanitarian activist, the head of the charity fund "Fair Aid" Elizaveta Glinka, also known as Dr. Lisa, were also aboard the plane.

Identification of the victims requires genetic examination, according to the director of the Serbsky Centre Zurab Kekelidze.

Investigators are pursuing several leads in the deadly Russian military plane crash in the Black Sea, including technical malfunction and pilot error.