Criminal Code of Russia
When the first photos were published from the crash site, some conservationists claimed that the Mi-171 helicopter crashed as a result of illegal game hunting straight from the helicopter. This type of hunting is forbidden by law Criminal Code of Russia Article 258. Conservationists claimed that the game being hunted would have been protected animals listed in the Red Data Book, which is a legally binding, full protection species fact sheet in Russian, as well as the IUCN Red List .