CAIRO, Oct. 31 (Aswat Masriya) - Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev "to form a state commission to investigate" the crash of a Russian civilian plane on Egyptian soil Saturday morning, the Kremlin said. 

Meanwhile, Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and the health and tourism ministers have "moved to site of the crash" to follow the situation on the ground and oversee the evacuation of victims, the Cabinet said in a statement. 

Russian flags will be lowered across the country and entertainment shows will be cancelled, after the Russian president signed off an order declaring November 1, a "day of mourning following the crash of a Russian airliner in Egypt," the Kremlin announced on its website. 

"Putin expressed his deepest condolences to the relatives of those killed in the crash," according to the Kremlin. No official statements have been issued yet on the number of causalities. 

An Airbus A321 operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia took off from South Sinai's Sharm El-Sheikh resort city with 217 passengers and seven crew members on board at 5:51 am.

Within minutes, air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane and it disappeared from radar after 23 minutes from take-off. The wreckage was found south of North Sinai's al-Arish city.  

The cause of the incident remains unclear and the Egyptian aviation minister, Hossam Kamal was cited by the Cabinet as saying that it was "premature" to decide on the cause of the crash. 

A team from the air crash investigation department at the ministry of civil aviation went to the site of the crash to inspect it and recover the black boxes, the source said. 

Putin ordered the Russian minister for emergency situations to dispatch an aircraft to Egypt "in coordination with the Egyptian side to work at" the site of the crash. 

Earlier, the Russian Ambassador to Cairo Serge Kirpichenko told Aswat Masriya that he is in contact with Egyptian authorities to find out the cause of the crash. He added that he is following up with Egyptian officials on what can be done to provide care for the injured and ship the bodies of the deceased back to Russia.

Kirpichenko has been briefed by Ismail on the ongoing Egyptian government's efforts to manage the situation. 

Russian authorities have the right to participate in the investigation, the aviation ministry source earlier said.