"You know that we are doing everything to find the bodies and investigate the causes of this terrible tragedy," Shoigu said at a select ministry session.
He added that the cargo on board the aircraft that was intended as humanitarian aid for civilians in Aleppo has reached the Hmeimim airfield in Latakia province and will be distributed in the coming days.
The Russian Defense Ministry's Tu-154 aircraft en route to Syria from Moscow crashed soon after takeoff near Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi early on Sunday.
The plane was carrying 92 people including eight crew members, 64 musicians of the Alexandrov Ensemble, nine reporters, head of Spravedlivaya Pomoshch (Fair Aid) charity Elizaveta Glinka, and two federal civil servants.
Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!
