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Kremlin blasts Poland’s accusations over Kaczynski’s plane crash

Peskov said he is unaware whether Poland had sent a request on arresting the Smolensk air traffic controllers

Wreckage of the aircraft seen at the grounds where evidence in the case of the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash is kept Russian Investigative Committee/TASS

Wreckage of the aircraft seen at the grounds where evidence in the case of the 2010 Polish Air Force Tu-154 crash is kept

© Russian Investigative Committee/TASS

MOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov is unaware whether Poland had sent a request to the Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office on arresting the Smolensk air traffic controllers, who were working when the Polish presidential plane crashed in 2010.

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"I don’t know if there were any contacts or any legal actions in accordance with international practice and whether our Prosecutor-General’s Office or investigative bodies had received any requests from Warsaw. We are unaware of this now," Peskov said.

The Kremlin spokesman stressed that Moscow negatively reacted to Warsaw’s demands to arrest these air traffic controllers. "In general, conceptually <...> I will say so: we react negatively," Peskov said answering a question.

Earlier reports said Polish investigators had filed a request with a court in Warsaw’s Mokotow district on arresting three air traffic controllers, who were on duty at the Smolensk airport on April 10, 2010, when the plane carrying Poland's then President Lech Kaczynski crashed. According to the Polish prosecutors, the accusations concern deliberately provoking the crash, resulting in numerous deaths.

Poland’s Air Force One, a Tu-154 plane, crashed near the Russian city of Smolensk on April 10, 2010. Under the conditions of reduced visibility, the pilots decided to land the plane. The Tu-154 didn’t make it to the landing strip by a few meters and first struck trees before crashing into the ground. The crash killed all 96 people on board, including Poland’s then President Lech Kaczynski.

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