A Russian military transport plane crashed in Syria yesterday killing all 39 people on board, Russian officials said. The Kremlin said in a statement that the plane, a Soviet-designed An-26, crashed at Russia's Hmeymim air base in Latakia Province. The cause may have been a technical malfunction.<br />''<br />''Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, in a telegram offering his condolences, said when the crash happened, the service personnel on board were returning to base after completing an unspecified combat mission.<br />''<br />''The incident has sharply raised the death toll from the Kremlin's intervention in the Syrian war. President Vladimir Putin, who is running for re-election later this month, declared in December that the Russian mission in Syria was largely completed, but casualties continue to mount.