As evidence that a Ukrainian missile downed Siberian Airline flight 1812 last Thursday accumulated, family members of the 77 passengers and crewmen killed in the tragedy aided in the identification of victims, cast flowers into the Black Sea in a tearful memorial ceremony for their loved ones and accused Russian officials of covering up information.

On Tuesday Russian investigators said they had found fragments similar to missile components in the wreckage of the Tupolev Tu-154 airplane. "A great number of metallic parts were found which are very similar to parts of the S200 (anti-aircraft) rocket,'' Yevgeny Shaposhnikov, a member of the investigating commission told a news conference in the Black Sea port of Sochi.

Senior Ukrainian defense officials continued to insist on

"It is our duty as a country to commiserate with the pain of the families." - Minister without Portfolio Danny Naveh

Tuesday that their forces were not responsible for the crash, despite reports that American satellites picked up a rocket launch, reportedly fired by Ukrainian forces during a military exercise on the Crimean peninsula, and an accompanying missile trail. Other reports indicated that holes in the wreckage were consistent with a S200 strike, in which the missile fragments just short of its target, blasting the object with shrapnel.

"It is technically impossible" that a missile hit the plane, but "everything is possible theoretically," Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma told journalists in Kiev. The incident has reportedly threatened to cause a serious rift between Ukraine and Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this week that he is unhappy with the information Ukraine had provided so far in the investigation.

According to media reports, families of the victims of the crash accused Russian authorities Monday of attempting to cover-up the causes of the midair explosion. Agence France-Presse reported that angry relatives turned on Russian officials, "accusing them of 'doing nothing' to solve the mystery of the crash, or 'not giving straight answers' or even 'lying.'"

"We have done nothing but listen to a lot of hot air since we have arrived here," one female relative cried in rage. Family members charged that television newscasts reported evidence of missile pieces in the plane's wreckage, but this information was withheld from them.

Only 15 corpses to identify
Family members traveled to Sochi earlier in the week in attempts to identify the bodies recovered by Russian salvage teams. Jewish Agency officials accompanied the relatives and an IDF team made up of members of the IDF Chaplaincy Corps and other military and police personnel flew to Sochi, ready to assist the Russians in their investigative efforts.

Ha'aretz reported that other bereaved families considered members of the Klinitzky family "lucky". After spending Sunday night in an autopsy room, they were able to identify the remains of grandmother Zinaida Tushina, 71, who had been flying on the plane.

Shlomo Kamerie described the identification of the body of his daughter, Adi, as a "real miracle." Adi's mother Aliza said, "We've found Adi; we've found her. I saw her earrings. It's definitely her. Now I can take my daughter home."

Most family members who traveled to Sochi will return home empty-handed. Only 15 bodies were recovered, and hope is running out for finding additional remains.

On Tuesday morning family members boarded a Russian ship and set out into the Black Sea. After a seven-hour journey, the ship arrived at the site where the Siberian Airlines plane crashed last Thursday. Yediot Aharonot reported that some of the passengers still ventured a small hope that they would spot something in the sea that rescue crews had missed - a small toy, an article of clothing - anything that could serve as a final memento of their loved ones.

Wreathes of flowers were cast into the sea in a short memorial ceremony, and were quickly swept away by fast-moving currents. Family members stood at the rail, silently gazing out at the water. Afterwards the family members gathered around a table for the traditional Russian mourning rites of raising small glasses of vodka and partaking pieces of bread.

National day of mourning
The State of Israel will mark the victims of the Siberian Airlines crash tomorrow, with an official day of mourning. The decision was reached Monday by a special committee headed by Minister without Portfolio Danny Naveh (Likud). The country's flags will be flown at half-mast and the government will hold a special session, attended by President Moshe Katsav and the Russian Ambassador.

"We are talking about a tragic event, accompanied by heart-wrenching human stories," Naveh said. "It is our duty as a country to commiserate with the pain of the families." The decision to hold the national day of mourning only one week after the tragedy was due to the Jewish tradition not to show signs of grieving during the holiday of Sukkot, which ended yesterday.

Earlier in the week, Israeli commentators, political figures and rabbis questioned whether the victims of the tragedy were being mourned appropriately. If the victims had been Israeli-born, and not Russian immigrants to the country, "displays of mourning and grief in the media and the Israeli street would have been more pronounced," wrote Yediot Aharonot commentator Orna Landau.

Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau compared the plane crash to the June 1 disco bombing, which "brought the Russian immigrants closer to the veteran Israeli society." Lau told Israel Radio that the plane crash, "when the names do not sound so familiar and when their circle of acquaintances is still very narrow, created a situation where we don't all share the feelings we should."

Complaints were directed at the Tel Aviv Municipality, which went ahead last week with Love Day celebrations despite the tragedy, and even at Israeli television channels, which reverted to regular programming later in the evening on the night of the crash.

While praising the contribution of Russian immigration to the State of Israel in Sunday's Maariv, novelist A. B. Yehoshua wrote, "Perhaps our hearts have become coarse. I sincerely hope that this event is not causing fewer echoes because this time the passengers didn't seem important enough."

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