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Defense minister vows causes of Tu-154 crash near Sochi will be disclosed soon

A Tu-154 passenger jet of the Russian Defense Ministry crashed in the early hours of December 25, 2016 off Sochi coast

Wreckage of Tu-154 plane, retrieved from the Black Sea off Sochi coastline Russian Emergency Situations Ministry/TASS

Wreckage of Tu-154 plane, retrieved from the Black Sea off Sochi coastline

© Russian Emergency Situations Ministry/TASS

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. The causes of the Tupolev-154 passenger liner’s crash near the Black Sea resort of Sochi late last year will be made public soon, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told the Federation Council (upper house of the Russian parliament) on Wednesday.

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"Of course, it is important to know [what caused the disaster]. Just several weeks ago we completed on-site work in the sea and on the seabed to recover all crucial fragments. There is 99% certainty that we have the final explanation of the causes of that crash. The remaining 1% will be required to be absolutely certain and absolutely honest to all. I believe that we will have the latest data soon and disclose the final version," Shoigu said.

A Tu-154 passenger jet of the Russian Defense Ministry crashed in the early hours of December 25, 2016 seconds after leaving the seaside Adler airport. There were 92 people on board - military officers, journalists, human rights activist, head of the Fair Aid foundation Yelizaveta Glinka and a group of performing artists from the Russian army’s Aleksandrov song and dance company, who were on the way to Syria with New Year greetings to the personnel of Russia’s airbase Hmeymim.

There were no survivors.

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