The bodies of over 140 people killed in Saturday’s plane crash in Egypt have been flown back to St Petersburg.
Russian aviation officials say the aircraft broke up in mid-air before plunging to the ground in the Sinai Peninsula.
They cannot say yet whether the crash was caused by mechanical failure or a bomb or missile that may have destroyed the aircraft.
Two lorries carrying the remains of the victims, escorted by police cars, left St Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport shortly after they arrived in the country.
People arrange candles to make a cross to commemorate 224 victims of a Russian airliner which crashed in Egypt
A team of 60 specialists is involved in the process of identifying the victims and Russia’s Ministry of Emergencies said another plane with bodies and personal belongings of victims on board would leave Cairo later on Monday.
Mourners left flowers, photographs of the victims, candles, stuffed animals and paper planes at the airport. Many of the victims were from the city.
All 224 people – 217 passengers and seven crew members – on the St Petersburg-bound plane died.
Authorities say all those on board were Russian nationals except for three Ukrainians and one Belarusian. Twenty-five were children.
Most had been holidaying in Sharm el-Sheikh.
The aircraft vanished from radar around 23 minutes after taking off from the Red Sea resort. It was flying at around 31,000ft when it lost contact.
“The destruction happened in the air, and fragments were scattered over a large area of around 20 square kilometres,” said Viktor Sorochenko, director of the Intergovernmental Aviation Committee.
But he warned: “It’s too early to talk about conclusions.”
Search teams and aviation experts have been combing an area of 16 square km (more than 6 square miles) for fragments of the jet.
Russian authorities have ordered Kogalymavia, which flew the doomed jet under the brand name Metrojet, not to fly any other Airbus A321s until the cause of the crash is determined.
Islamic State-linked militants, the Wilayat Sinai (Sinai Province) group, claimed responsibility for downing the jet, but Egyptian and Russian officials dismissed this claim.
Security experts doubt whether the jihadists in the area possess the weaponry and expertise to bring down an airliner.
But Emirates, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways and Air France said they have stopped flying over the Sinai Peninsula until they find out more about what caused the crash.
EasyJet said it would continue to fly tourists to Sharm el-Sheikh “as planned”, while British Airways said it could not comment on “exact flight routes”.
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al Sisi has warned the investigation could take months.
Sunday was declared a nationwide day of mourning in Russia, with flags on government flown at half-mast.
