By Artyom Liss BBC, Moscow

Relatives could do nothing, but identify the remains of the dead

Little more than 24 hours after the two planes disappeared from radar, they were taken to villages next to the crash sites in the Tula and Rostov regions of Russia.

Most stayed there for the whole day, only leaving their rooms at a retirement home and a hospital - used as ad-hoc hotels - to identify the bodies of their loved ones.

In Rostov, some drew enough courage to visit the site and look at remains of the airliner.

The family of Sarkis Aganesyan, who died on the Sibir plane to Sochi, told journalists that waiting for the same airline to take them to where the doomed Flight 1047 crashed was nearly too much for them.

Surrounded by doctors and rescue workers, they looked on grimly as bodies of other victims were excavated from what had been a Tupolev-154 airliner.

"I can't believe he died. It's so wrong that people like him die, and those who do not deserve it live on," Sarkis' brother-in-law told a Russian newspaper.

Prayers

About 800km (500 miles) away there was a similar mood near to where the other plane came down.

Some 31 relatives of the victims were brought to Tula from Volgograd, their home town, on a coach provided by local authorities.

"None of them expressed a wish to visit the crash scene," said the Deputy Governor of Tula, Vyacheslav Rotin. "But if somebody changes their mind, we won't stop them."

And back home, the chief rabbi of Volgograd Zalman Yoffe was praying for the dead and asking God to help their friends and relatives.

He had booked a ticket for the doomed flight but cancelled his departure at the last moment because of a business meeting.

Now Mr Yoffe is one of the points of contact in the region for Israeli authorities - this country, so far away from Russia, is also mourning its dead.

Two of the passengers on the Volgograd-bound Tupolev were Israeli citizens.

They had been planning to visit a friend who is serving a sentence in a Volgograd jail.

Tragedy of a missed flight

Back in Moscow, the families of Alexey Stepanov and Larissa Zvyagintseva are mourning their loss.

Alexey and Larissa had chosen Sochi as their honeymoon destination. Initially they were going to leave Moscow on an earlier flight - but missed their departure.

"They were so pleased with the airport staff for helping them change their bookings," one of the relatives told a Russian newspaper.

"We gave them a huge traditional pie to share on their honeymoon. They promised they wouldn't bring back a single crumb."