Russia will on Monday give Poland the flight data recorders of the Polish presidential plane that crashed in western Russia more than six weeks ago, a spokesman for Russia's Deputy Premier Sergei Ivanov said.
The Polish government Tu-154 crashed near Smolensk on April 10. All 96 people on board died, including President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and a host of senior Polish officials. They had been due to attend a memorial ceremony for the victims of the 1940 Katyn massacre in which Soviet secret police killed thousands of Polish military officers.
"The copies of flight recorders from the Polish presidential plane will be handed over. Russia's head of Interstate Aviation Committee Tatyana Anodina and Sergei Ivanov will take part in the ceremony," the spokesman said.
He added that representatives from the Russian and Polish Prosecutor General's Offices would attend to verify the authenticity of the copies.
Anodina said earlier the black boxes themselves must remain with the Interstate Aviation Committee until the end of the investigation.
Russian and Polish investigators and experts are jointly investigating the causes of the crash. Polish military prosecutors are also conducting their own separate investigation.
MOSCOW, May 31 (RIA Novosti)
