After the Tu-154 crash, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held a working meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Following the meeting, Putin left for Smolensk.
The meeting took place in the president's Gorky residence.
"I have signed an executive order to form a government commission to be headed by the prime minister", Medvedev said. "I have given instructions to the Investigation Committee, the Prosecutor's Office and security-related services to thoroughly investigate all circumstances of the tragedy in cooperation with our Polish partners and in line with our and Polish legislation ... We must do everything to guarantee that the organisational and technical procedures accompanying such accidents are carried out as meticulously as possible, in close contact with our Polish partners".
He also told Putin about his telephone conversations with Sejm Marshal Bronislaw Komorowski, who is now acting president, as well as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
"We have agreed to maintain close contact with the acting president, the prime minister and all those who will take part in the mournful procedures and certainly help the families of the dead who will come to Moscow to identify the bodies", Medvedev said.
After the meeting, Putin left for Smolensk where he held a conference of the government commission. Tusk arrived shortly after and Putin met him by the operational headquarters a hundred metres from the site of the crash. The prime ministers went to the site and Putin told Tusk in detail about what happened after the plane disappeared from the radar screen.
The prime ministers laid flowers by a fragment of the plane's fuselage. Setting down a bouquet, Tusk bowed down on one knee. Many members of the delegation standing nearby had tears in their eyes. Putin embraced Tusk and both prime ministers approached the rescue team who continued working in the dark.
The operational headquarters organised a space bridge with Moscow for the prime ministers.
"Do you know that the first group of relatives is arriving from Poland today?" Putin asked.
"Yes, we are ready to receive them", a representative of the Moscow Mayor's Office replied. "We have made arrangement for their transportation to the hotels where we reserved rooms for them".
Meanwhile, Healthcare and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova said: "The bodies delivered from Smolensk are being reloaded now. They will be transported to the central bureau of medico-legal proceedings. We are ready to render psychological aid to the relatives. Our specialists will be working throughout the process of identifying the bodies".
Alexander Gamov