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Russia Observes Day of Mourning for Polish Air Disaster

   Two  countries  disagree  on  many  issues,  but  Moscow's gestures of
   solidarity since crash could help improve relations

   Jessica Golloher | Moscow 12 April 2010
   Russian national flag (r) and President's Color fly at half staff over
   the  Moscow  Kremlin  in  respect  for  Polish President Kaczynski and
   others who died Saturday in a devastating plane crash near the western
   Russian city of Smolensk, 12 Apr 2010

Photo: AP

   Russian national flag (r) and President's Color fly at half staff over
   the  Moscow  Kremlin  in  respect  for  Polish President Kaczynski and
   others who died Saturday in a devastating plane crash near the western
   Russian  city of Smolensk. President Dmitry Medvedev declared Monday a
   day  of  mourning  in  Russia  and the country observed two minutes of
   silence for those killed in the crash, 12 Apr 2010

   Russia  has  declared  a  national  day of mourning for the victims of
   Saturday's Polish air disaster.
   Russian flags are flying at half-staff in Moscow as the country mourns
   the 96 Poles killed Saturday in plane crash near Smolensk.
   People  laid  flowers and placed candles outside the Polish embassy in
   Moscow.
   Nikolai, a mourner, says it is a horrible situation.

   These  are victims of misfortune and now there is grief and mourning.Â
   He says it is hard to talk about it, just horrible. No one is [immune]
   from  this,  as history has shown, not simple citizens not a president
   of any country, no one is [immune] from such accidents.
   Ties between Russia and Poland have been strained.  The two countries
   disagree   on  several  issues,  including  missile  defense  and  gas
   pipelines.    But,  many  analysts  say  Moscow's  many  gestures  of
   solidarity  since  the  crash,  could  help  relations between the two
   countries gradually improve.
   Mourner Tatiana agrees.

   Russian  President  Dmitry  Medvedev  pays  respects  at a portrait of
   Polish  President  Lech  Kaczynski  and  his  wife Maria at the Polish
   Embassy in Moscow, 12 Apr 2010

AP

   Russian  President  Dmitry  Medvedev  pays  respects  at a portrait of
   Polish  President  Lech  Kaczynski  and  his  wife Maria at the Polish
   Embassy in Moscow, 12 Apr 2010

   She  says we just lived through a tragedy and we understand everything
   as  well  as  anyone.   If  this  somehow brings our countries closer
   together,  as  they  say,  'If there is no fortune then let misfortune
   help' then so be it.
   The mayor of Moscow has made his own good-will gesture to the families
   of  the  crash  victims, who are arriving in Moscow to try to identify
   the bodies of their loved ones.
   Mayor  Yuri  Luzhkov  is  promising the city's full support.  He says
   that  psychological care, hotel rooms and translation services will be
   available to the families.
   Russian officials say they have identified at least two-dozen victims,
   but  some of the bodies were so damaged that investigators may have to
   rely on DNA evidence to identify them.
   Meanwhile, in a televised meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir
   Putin,  Russia's  top  investigator  says that after analyzing all the
   flight   data  from  Saturday's  Tupolev  jet  crash,  officials  have
   determined   that  there  were  no  technical  difficulties  with  the
   aircraft.
   Alexander  Bastrykin  says  recordings  of  the  Polish  pilot and air
   traffic  control  indicate  the  pilot was told not to land due to the
   thick  fog  in  the region, but did so anyway.  Russian officials are
   pointing to pilot error.

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