A Russian military jet with 91 people on board has crashed shortly after take-off near Sochi, the Defence ministry said.
The ministry said the plane was carrying the famous Alexandrov military band for a concert at the Russian air base in Syria.
The missing aircraft is a Tu-154, a Soviet-designed three-engine airliner.
It disappeared minutes after take-off over the Black Sea.
Russia's RIA news agency, citing an unidentified security source, said preliminary data indicated the plane had crashed because of a technical malfunction.
It was not immediately possible to verify that report.
The plane had departed at 5:40am local time (0240 GMT) from Adler, south of the Black Sea resort city of Sochi.
It was conducting a routine flight to Russia's Hmeimim airbase outside the coastal Syrian city of Latakia, the ministry said.
Search and rescue groups have now found the crash site, close to the coast, it is being reported.
The Defence Ministry said that there were 83 passengers and eight crew on board.
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