Russian nationals were among the 64 people on board the American Airlines plane that crashed into the Potomac River in Washington after colliding with a military helicopter, the Kremlin said Thursday.
The confirmation came after the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing anonymous sources, that the champion skating couple Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the 1994 world pairs title, were on board the plane. Former Soviet pairs skater Inna Volyanskaya was also reportedly on board.
“We see that this sad information is being confirmed. There were other fellow citizens [of Russia],” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“We express condolences to the families and friends who lost our fellow citizens,” Peskov said, describing the tragedy as “bad news from Washington.”
U.S. officials said Thursday that they believed no one survived the crash and that 28 bodies had been recovered from the water so far.
Retired figure skater and current Russian lawmaker Irina Rodnina noted that the passengers’ identities have not yet been officially confirmed.
U.S. Figure Skating said several athletes, coaches and officials were aboard the flight, which was returning to Washington from an event in Wichita, Kansas.
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