A manifest list for the plane which named everyone on board and which was published by the SHOT news outlet appeared to show that the crew were Russian nationals too.

Russian aviation authorities said on Sunday a Russian-registered plane with six people thought to be on board had disappeared from radar screens over Afghanistan the previous night, after local Afghan police said they had received reports of a crash.

Russia's RIA news agency said the flight was a medical evacuation from Thailand to Moscow.

Russian investigators said on Sunday they had opened a criminal investigation to determine whether there was any violation of safety rules.

(Writing by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Andrew Osborn)