Russian mourns plane crash victims, search operation on

Monday is an official day of mourning in Russia in honor of the victims of Sunday's plane crash that saw a military airplane crash into the Black Sea shortly after take-off from Sochi.

The TU-154 aircraft was bound for Syria, and went down just minutes into the flight.

Russian President Vladimir Putin went on television to declare Monday a nationwide day of mourning.

"We will conduct a thorough investigation into the reasons and will do everything to support the victims' families," Putin said.

Backed by ships, helicopters and drones, rescue teams have been searching for the victims of Sunday's crash.

All 84 passengers and eight crew members on board the plane operated by the Russian military are believed to have died when it crashed two minutes after taking off at 5:25am local time (02:25 GMT) in good weather from the southern Russian city of Sochi.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had recovered 10 bodies by late Sunday.

Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov, in charge of a state probe into the crash, said on state television that investigators were looking into a "whole spectrum" of theories on the cause of the crash of the Soviet-built Tu-154 plane.

When asked if a "terror attack" could have been behind the crash, Sokolov said: "It is premature to speak of this."

He added that the aircraft's black boxes had yet to be found.

More than 3,000 people - including over 100 divers flown in from across Russia - worked from 32 ships and several helicopters to search the crash site, the defence ministry said.

Drones and submersibles were also being used to help spot bodies and debris. Powerful spotlights were brought in so the search could continue around the clock.

Emergency crews found fragments of the plane about 1.5km from shore. By Sunday evening, rescue teams had recovered 11 bodies and Sokolov, the transport minister, said fragments of other bodies were also found.