Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement that it was granting access to Polish officials in response to a request from authorities in Warsaw.
PAP quoted “unofficial” reports as saying that Polish prosecutors are set to gather data for US experts, who have teamed up with Polish authorities on an investigation.
The crash on April 10, 2010 near the western Russian city of Smolensk killed Poland’s then-President Lech Kaczyński and dozens of top military and political figures.
In a previous visit, a group of Polish investigators in May travelled to Russia to view the wreckage.
Tomasz Arabski, the former head of the Polish Prime Minister’s Office who was responsible for organizing the flight in 2010, was in June given a 10-month suspended jail term. He was convicted of failing to carry out his duties and negligence in planning the flight.
Last year, the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly called on Russia to hand over the wreckage of the crashed plane to the Polish authorities “without further delay” and in a manner that “avoids any further deterioration” of potential evidence.
Russia has refused to return the wreckage, including the plane’s black boxes, to Poland, claiming that it is continuing to investigate the crash.
The 2010 crash scarred the national psyche and is still a source of controversy and recrimination in Poland.
The head of a Polish commission reinvestigating the crash said in April that a probe had shown those on board died as a result of an explosion.
Poland’s ruling conservatives have long challenged an official report into the causes of the disaster issued by the previous government, which cited a catalogue of errors on the Polish side, while also pointing to errors made by Russian staff at the control tower of Smolensk Military Airport.
A Russian report placed all the blame on the Poles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of 2017 denied Polish suggestions that the 2010 air crash was the result of a Russian conspiracy.
(jh/pk)
Source: PAP