ciomalau: i didn't know them but was it terrorist attack?
Still unknown, but:
1. There is very strange video from nearby city, which shows big flash in the sky in place where plane could be at that moment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNvgJmeWsP0 2. When plane from Egypt was blown by terrorists, the real cause was declared only after some time.
Also, there were 92 people onboard:
8 crew members of Tu-154
64 artists from Alexandrov Ensemble. It was their main part of the ensemble including the head.
8 Russian army officers including 1 general
2 Russian goverment members
9 journalists from 3 Russian TV channels (ORT, NTV and Zvezda).
1 doctor from international organisation "Fair Help". She saved many kids in warzones, helped people who was dying of cancer to get aid, was helping to send medicine and medics to Ukraine and Syria warzones. And she wasn't on side of West or Putin - she had problems with both sides if she was thinking they doing wrong things.
KiNgBrAdLeY7: Official sources are that the airplane Tupolev was 30 years old. In my books, the terrorist is the company who allowed that ancient artifact to operate in our day and age.
It was a RUAF plane - they fly not so much than civilian planes. It was repaired and checked in 2014. Main reason why it still was used - it is 100% made in Russia. Russian military is strictly forbidden to use any vehicles or weapons with foreign parts. And after Mistral scandal this rule became even more stricter.
