On Monday, Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said Belarus and Ukraine, whose citizens also were on board the Russian passenger airliner, could join the investigation into the crash. "We are ready to consider any official request by Russia's aviation authorities," Vladimir Kostin told RIA Novosti, adding that there had been none made so far. All 217 passengers and seven crew members aboard flight 9268, en route from the resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, have been confirmed dead. The tragedy is the biggest civil aviation disaster in Russian and Soviet history.
