(CNN) A Russian military plane carrying members of the army's official choir traveling to perform in Syria has crashed in the Black Sea near Sochi. There are apparently no survivors, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

The ensemble was "flying to congratulate Russian air force pilots in Syria with the New Year," ministry spokesman Igor Konashekov said.

A Tupolev Tu-154 plane that was carrying 92 people, including 84 passengers and eight crew members, disappeared from radar Sunday morning local time after taking off from the Adler airport, state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The plane took off from Moscow and was headed to the Russian Hmeymim airbase in Latakia, Syria, where Russia has a large military presence, for a concert ahead of New Year's Eve, a source told Russia's state news agency Tass.

Ten bodies have been brought on board a rescue vessel, according to the search and rescue team working the area of the crash, Konashekov said. One body believed to be among the victims was found more than three miles off the Sochi shore, Konashenkov said.

Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia On Tuesday, December 27, members of Russia's Emergency Ministry pack a flight recorder recovered from a Russian military plane that crashed Sunday into the Black Sea with 92 people aboard. Russia's transport minister said it was assumed the plane had crashed due to technical malfunction or pilot error -- not terrorism. Hide Caption 1 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia Emergency Ministry personnel prepare a submersible craft Tuesday to search for sunken wreckage and victims' remains. Thirteen bodies had been recovered from the Black Sea as of Tuesday morning. Hide Caption 2 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia A woman lights a candle Tuesday next to makeshift memorial in Sochi, Russia, for Russian activist Elizaveta Glinka, who was killed in the crash. Also presumed dead were nine journalists and more than 60 members of the Russian army's official choir, the Alexandrov Ensemble. Hide Caption 3 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia Wreckage from the Tu-154 plane is hauled from the Black Sea late on Monday, December 26. Hide Caption 4 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia Emergency crews continue search operations on December 26. Hide Caption 5 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia People visit a makeshift memorial to victims of the crash at a pier in Sochi on December 26. Russia is observing a national day of mourning for the eight crew and 84 passengers aboard. Hide Caption 6 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia A Russian police orchestra musician places a flower in tribute to members of the Alexandrov Ensemble outside their home stage building in Moscow on December 26. The popular ensemble was scheduled to perform for Russian pilots in Syria ahead of New Year's Day. Hide Caption 7 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia People hold a candlelight vigil for victims of the crash on Sunday, December 25, in Sochi. Hide Caption 8 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia Russian emergency personnel work near the site of the crash on December 25. The plane was en route from Moscow to Syria and had stopped in Sochi to refuel. Hide Caption 9 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia Russian emergency workers carry remains from the wreckage of the Tu-154 plane that crashed near Sochi on December 25. Hide Caption 10 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Nursultan Nazarbayev, president of Kazakhstan, speak to members of the media in St. Petersburg, Russia, on December 25. Putin has ordered Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to lead an investigation of the crash, Russian news agency Sputnik reported. Hide Caption 11 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia Russian police secure the area near where the plane crashed. In addition to the ensemble, the plane was carrying eight crew, eight soldiers and nine journalists. Hide Caption 12 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia A man places a candle outside the building of the famed Alexandrov Ensemble, the Russian army's official dance and choir company, in Moscow. Hide Caption 13 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia A man places flowers outside the building of the Alexandrov Ensemble in Moscow on Sunday. Alexander Kibovsky, head of Moscow's culture department, called them "our cultural paratroopers." Hide Caption 14 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia Flowers lay in front of a photo of the Alexandrov Ensemble at the group's building in Moscow. "These people always performed in war zones, they wore uniforms, they brought kindness and light," Kibovsky said. Hide Caption 15 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia Two women stand outside Alexandrov Hall, a rehearsal room of the Alexandrov Ensemble, in Moscow on Sunday. The ensemble, established in 1928, has toured the world performing Russian folk songs, World War II anthems and patriotic music. Hide Caption 16 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia Photographs of Channel One, NTV and Zvezda TV journalists killed in the plane crash are seen outside the Ostankino Technical Center in Moscow. Hide Caption 17 of 18 Photos: Russian military plane crashes near Sochi, Russia A woman lights a candle at a memorial in Moscow. Hide Caption 18 of 18

One of the people aboard that flight was Liza Glinka, a famous Russian human rights activist, according to CNN affiliate RBC. She was bringing medicine and other supplies to a local hospital in Syria, her colleague and friend Dr. Sergey Kurkov told RBC.

"We are shocked. I've talked to her on the phone just recently, just before it happened. She was a saint. She helped everybody," he said, adding that he's known her for 20 years. "She was kind, she was fair. It is such a huge loss for me. She talked to us. She argued with us. She was my teacher. She was like a family for me."

The first bodies of victims from the crashed flight are expected to arrive in Moscow on Monday morning, said Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov, according to RIA Novosti.

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The Russian Tu-154 could have crashed because of a technical malfunction or pilot error but not terrorism, said Viktor Ozerov, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, according to Russia's Sputnik news agency.

"I rule out version of the terror attack completely. It is the aircraft of the Ministry of Defense, the airspace of the Russian Federation, there cannot be such a version," Ozerov is quoted as saying. "The plane had to make a U-turn after takeoff over the sea (and) may (have taken) the wrong direction."

En route to Latakia, the plane landed in Sochi to refuel, the Defense Ministry's press service told Russia's Interfax news agency.

According to RIA Novosti, the Defense Ministry said it found debris from the Tu-154 in the Black Sea one mile from Sochi. Four ships and five helicopters have combed the crash site, Konashenkov said, according to Tass.

More than 100 divers with special equipment will be deployed, and a group of medical and psychological professionals will be on hand to help relatives, he said.

A famous Russian ensemble

CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam said no major weather patterns were present at the time of the plane's disappearance. On Sunday, the temperature of the Black Sea was about 10 degrees Celsius (50 F), according to Russian media.

The Defense Ministry published a list of those on board. Among them: eight crew members, eight soldiers and more than 60 members of the famed Alexandrov Ensemble, the Russian army's official choir, including its conductor Valery Kahlilov.

Since 1928, the Alexandrov Ensemble has grown into a immensely popular tradition due to its unending government support. It has toured the world performing Russian folk songs, World War II anthems and patriotic music, and was dubbed "Russia's singing weapon."

The ensemble consists of between 100 and 120 members depending on the type of performance. It includes a choir, a dance troupe and an orchestra. Because their performance at the airbase was going to be mostly a cappella, only the choir and a handful of dancers were aboard the plane, Russian media reported.

"The orchestra did not fly because [the choir] was supposed to use pre-recorded music," choir singer Sergei Khlopnikov, who didn't make the trip because his daughter was sick, told the Interfax news agency.

Nine journalists, including three reporters with Star TV, were on board, the Defense Ministry said on its television network.

"Our cultural paratroopers perished," the head of the Moscow government's culture department, Alexander Kibovsky, said in televised remarks. "These people always performed in war zones, they wore uniforms, they brought kindness and light," said Konashekov.

An investigation launched

The plane was manufactured in 1983 and had 6,689 hours of flight. "The last repair was on December 29, 2014, and in September 2016 it underwent scheduled maintenance," the ministry said, according to Tass.

The ministry identified the pilot as Roman Volkov, who it said was a "class 1 pilot" with more than 3,000 flying hours.

A photo of a Tupolev Tu-154, the same plane that disappeared Sunday morning after taking off near Sochi, Russia.

Tass has reported that, according to the Defense Ministry, "all search and rescue services of aviation units on the Southern Military District in Krasnodar and neighboring regions are engaged in aircraft search."

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to lead an investigation of the Tu-154 crash, according to Russian news agency Sputnik.

The Russian Investigation Committee has launched a routine criminal investigation to examine potential "violation of rules of flight safety or preparation," committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko told Tass. The committee plans to seize documents and interrogate those who prepared the plane for flight, she added.

Putin declared Monday a day of national mourning.