Earlier reports said there were 32 people aboard the aircraft.
"According to updated information, there were 33 passengers and six crew members aboard the An-26 transport aircraft, which crashed while landing at Hmeymim airfield. All of them were military servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces," the ministry said, stressing once again that no fire had been delivered against the plane.
"The Russian Defense Ministry’s commission is examining all possible versions of the crash," the ministry added.
"The Defense Ministry will provide all possible and necessary assistance and support to the families and relatives of those killed in the crash," the ministry stressed.
Russia’s An-26 transport plane crashed while landing at Hmeymim airfield at around 15:00 Moscow time on March 6. The plane hit the ground when it was about 500 meters short of the runway. Both the crew members and passengers were killed.
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06/03/2018
18:34
A Russian transport plane has crashed in Syria killing all 26 passengers and six crew members believed to have been on board, the defence ministry says.
The An-26 plane crashed during landing at Hmeimim air base, near the Syrian coastal city of Latakia, the ministry is quoted as saying by Russian media.
The plane was not fired upon, Russia says, and preliminary data suggests a technical malfunction could have caused the crash, BBC reports.
An investigation is now under way.
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