More than 60 members of the internationally-renowned Red Army Choir were on board a Russian military plane that crashed in the Black Sea on Sunday, Russia's defence ministry said.

A list of passengers and crew published by the ministry showed that 64 members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, the army's official musical group, and its conductor Valery Khalilov were on board the Tu-154 travelling to Syria to celebrate the New Year with Russian troops.

READ: Russian military plane crashes en route to Syria with 92 on board