Poland accuses Russian air traffic controllers over Smoleńsk plane crash

Polish prosecutors said that they will press charges against two Russian air traffic controllers of deliberately contributing to a 2010 plane crash that killed Poland's president Lech Kaczyński and 95 other people, including many top officials. According to the prosecution, recent analysis of the recordings between pilots and air traffic controllers, justify the decision. “An analysis of the evidence has allowed prosecutors to formulate new charges against air traffic controllers, citizens of the Russian Federation,” Deputy Prosecutor General Marek Pasionek said at a news conference. According to the Polish prosecution, two Russian air controllers were guilty of “deliberately causing an air traffic catastrophe,” while another one was “assisting in deliberately causing a catastrophe.” Kremlin called the accusations without a merit, saying that it was “certainly not possible to agree with such conclusions,” adding that the circumstances of the tragedy have been thoroughly investigated. “The Polish authorities continue to use the tragedy to spread political accounts in their country,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said. The previous Polish investigation blamed the disaster on a number of factors, including bad weather and pilot errors. The probe blamed Russian controllers of giving incorrect and confusing landing instructions but did not charge them. Russian probe put all the blame on the Polish side.