Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov commented on the collision between a US military helicopter and a commercial plane last night (29) in Washington, with 64 artistic skaters on board, being 13 Russian or Russian skaters.
“There were others of our fellow citizens on board. Bad news from Washington today, ”Dmitri S. Peskov told reporters.
So far, according to Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin had no plans to contact President Trump about the accident.
One from the US Army fell into the Potomac River in Washington after an air collision near Reagan Washington National Airport yesterday.
Russian world champions among the victims
Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, Russian-born ice skating coaches and former world champions, were aboard the plane that collided with the US army helicopter, according to Kremlin and Russian state media.
Shishkova and Naumov, who were married, won the World Skating World Championship in pairs in 1994 and allegedly lived in the United States since at least 1998, where they trained young sports athletes.
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The couple was returning from competition and traveling with a group of young skaters. Russian news agency Mash has published a list of 13 skaters, many of them children of Russian emigrants in the US, who were allegedly on the plane.
Inna Voltarynskaya, a former pathinator who competed for the Soviet Union, was also on board, according to Tass. She was a coach of Washington’s art skating club, according to her site.
Some Russian news agencies reported that Shishkova and Naumov’s son, Maxim Naumov, who competed in the US, could also be on the flight, but the Daily Mail newspaper cited another competitor, Anton Spiridonov, saying he had seen Maxim fly two days before .
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US Figure Skating, a body that governs art skating in the United States, said athletes, technicians, and family members were returning from the National Development camp conducted in conjunction with the US Artistic Skating Championship at Kansas.
“We are devastated by this indescribable tragedy and keep the victims’ families in our hearts,” he said in a statement.
Kremlin expressed their condolences to the families of Russian citizens who lost their lives in the plane crash and said the news that Shishkova and Naumov were on board seems to be confirmed.
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The Russian art skating federation expressed its condolences to those who lost loved ones in the accident but said it could not make more comments.
(Com Reuters)
