Kremlin Disagrees With Polish Claim of Traffic Controllers Provoking 2010 Crash

The Kremlin disagrees with Poland's accusations toward Russian air traffic controllers of provoking the deadly 2010 plane crash that killed then-president Lech Kaczynski and other officials, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — National Public Prosecutor's Office deputy chief Marek Pasionek said earlier in the day that Poland had amassed evidence to bring "charges of the crime of deliberately provoking the catastrophe." Pasionek said the accusations have been leveled against Russian air traffic controllers and a "third person" in the flight control tower.

"Certainly, the circumstances of this tragedy, this catastrophe, have already been seriously investigated, examined and of course it is not seen as possible to agree with these conclusions," Peskov told reporters.

On April 10, 2010, a Russia-made passenger plane carrying Kaczynski, his wife, and a number of high-ranking Polish officials crashed as it attempted to land at an airfield covered in heavy fog near Smolensk. All 96 people on board died in the Tu-154M crash.

The Polish Defense Ministry said last year that Warsaw would restart its investigation into the crash from scratch.