Poles and Russians together lived through the recent tragedy of the death of Polish president Lech Kaczynski and his accompanying officials, Russia's first lady Svetlana Medvedeva said at a ceremony to commemorate the victims of April's deadly plane crash in western Russia.
The families of those killed in April's plane crash near Smolensk are attending the tragedy site on Sunday.
"Russians sincerely shared Poland's pain and grief. We were together with you at those difficult hours and prayed for God to give you strength to live through this tragedy," Medvedeva said.
The worn-out Tu-154 with Kaczynski and other senior Polish officials on board crashed near the city of Smolensk, killing all 96 people, on April 10. The delegation was on its way to a commemoration ceremony of the 1940 Katyn massacre, in which more than 20,000 Poles had been executed by Soviet forces.
"The history of our countries is closely related and there were uneasy periods but the peoples of Russia and Poland were finding ways for support and mutual respect. The fact that we lived through this tragedy together and are remembering it today confirms this," Medvedeva said.
SMOLENSK, October 10 (RIA Novosti)
