President Hu Jintao sent a message of condolences yesterday to Russian President Vladimir Putin over a Russian airliner crash in Ukraine.

 

Hu, on behalf of the Chinese government and people and also in his own name, expressed sincere condolences to the Russian government and people and the victims' families, and deeply mourned over those who were killed in the air crash.

 

Some 170 people aboard a Russian passenger plane were killed Tuesday when the jet plane crashed near the city of Donetsk in east Ukraine after it ran into severe weather.

 

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also sent a message of condolences yesterday to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2006)