MOSCOW, March 29 - RAPSI. A criminal case has been opened in regard to the Mi-8 helicopter which crashed in Sudan on December 21, allegedly shot down by a missile, the Investigative Committee reports on Friday.

According to media reports, the United Nations helicopter flown by a Russian crew was downed in South Sudan near the settlement of Likuangole. The four crew members died in the crash.

The investigators have established that the crew was performing a reconnaissance flight commissioned by the UN.

KV Group, the company which owned the helicopter, suffered an estimated 26 million rubles (circa $840,000) in damages.

The Russian law allows perpetrators of crimes committed outside Russia to be prosecuted if the crime was aimed at Russian nationals, the Investigative Committee states. "The Foreign Ministry has provided the information requested which pertains to the incident. The Federal Air Transport Agency has submitted its expert report on the crash.

The investigators have also just obtained the autopsy reports of the crash victims," the committee said.

The case has been opened based on the Criminal Code articles "Murder of two or more individuals", "Premeditated destruction of property" and "Attack against internationally protected individuals".