KIEV, May 7. /TASS/: Ukrainians are laying flowers at the Russian embassy in Kiev in memory of the victims of Sunday’s Sukhoi Superjet 100 plane crash at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, an embassy official told TASS on Tuesday.
"People are bringing flowers, icon lamps and notes of condolences," the official said.
Member of the Opposition Bloc party’s parliamentary faction Vadim Novinsky was one of those who laid flowers at the Russian embassy. He pointed out that despite difficulties in relations between the two countries, people cannot but share the grief of their neighbors.
Founder of the ‘Opposition Platform For Life’ party Yuri Boiko and Chairman of the party’s Political Council Viktor Medvedchuk earlier expressed condolences over the plane crash.
Ukrainian President-Elect Vladimir Zelensky also did not remain indifferent, while the outgoing president, Pyotr Poroshenko, failed to offer condolences. Foreign Minister Pavel Klimkin wished a speedy recovery to the injured on Kiev’s behalf. However, most Ukrainian politicians refrained from responding to the tragedy although one of those injured in the accident is a Ukrainian national.
On May 5, a Sukhoi Superjet 100 operated by Russia’s national airline Aeroflot crash-landed at Sheremetyevo airport. The flight, en route from Moscow to Murmansk, had a total of 78 people on board. According to recent data, the accident killed 41. Six were hospitalized, the Russian Health Ministry said.
An investigation has been opened under Article 263.3 of the Russian Criminal Code (air safety violations leading to two or more deaths by negligence). Several causes for the crash are being considered, including weather conditions, a technical malfunction and the pilots’ incompetence.
