MOSCOW, December 22 (RAPSI) - The Second Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction has upheld refusal in payment of the 2.1 billion-ruble ($28 million) insurance indemnity to the relatives of victims of the TU-154 military plane crash near Sochi in December 2016, lawyer Igor Trunov has told RAPSI.

The injured party and attorneys demanded moral damage compensation and underpaid insurance proceeds. The court held that the Defense Ministry and Sogaz insurer had fulfilled their obligations even though non-pecuniary damages were not compensated and babies were born but not received any payments.

The ruling will be appealed in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), according to Trunov.

In January 2020, the Second Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction ordered reconsideration of the case after the relatives had been denied compensations by several instances. In July, the Moscow City Court reviewed the matter and again dismissed the compensation claim.

The plane, which was carrying out a planned flight to Syria with 8 crew members and 84 passengers on board including journalists, musicians from the famous Alexandrov military ensemble and Elizaveta Glinka, widely known as Doctor Liza, the Fair Aid Charity executive director and the inaugural winner of Russia's state prize for achievements in human rights, crashed into the Black Sea on December 25, 2016. The aircraft refueled at Adler’s airport and shortly after disappeared from radars. No one survived in the crash.