World leaders expressed shock and dismay at the death of Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and many of the country's top officials in a plane crash Saturday in western Russia. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev were quick to offer condolences to Polish leaders and vowed a thorough probe into the crash of Kaczynski's plane in thick fog as it was landing at Smolensk airport.
Putin voiced sympathy over the "tragic" crash in a phone call with his Polish counterpart, Donald Tusk, said the spokesman for the Russian prime minister, Dmitry Peskov. "Nothing like this has ever happened before," Putin said later at a meeting of the Russian cabinet devoted to the crash. "A tragedy has taken place, a very serious tragedy."
"I have given an order to carry out a detailed investigation of the accident with complete and close co-operation with the Polish side," Medvedev said in a message to Bronislaw Komorowski, the speaker of parliament who is acting head of state. In an address to be broadcast on Polish television, Medvedev said: "In the name of the Russian people, I offer my deepest, truest condolences to the Polish people, feelings of compassion and support for the relatives and loved ones of those killed."