Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Polish president's plane crash in west Russia is a tragedy not only for Poland but for Russia as well.
The Soviet-made TU-154 carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski hit the top of trees as it attempted to land at a Smolensk airport at 10:50 a.m. (06:50 GMT). There were no survivors among 97 people on board of the plane.
"This is a terrible tragedy, 97 people were killed. This is first of all a tragedy for Poland and for Polish people, but this is our [Russian] tragedy as well. We mourn with you," Putin said in an interview with a Polish television channel.
He added that a state commission would do everything possible to support relatives of those killed in the crash as they are currently arriving in Moscow.
"We pray with you," Putin said.
Kaczynski's wife and a delegation of senior Polish officials, including the chief of the General Staff and the head of the national bank, were also on board.
The Polish president was on his way to pay tribute to the some 20,000 Polish officers who were executed by Soviet secret police in Katyn forest and other locations in 1940. The officers had been taken prisoner by Soviet forces when the USSR invaded Poland during the early days of WWII.
SMOLENSK, April 11 (RIA Novosti)
