The message said, in part:
“Dear Mr President, it is with deep sorrow that we in Russia received the news of the plane crash in Egypt that killed many French citizens.
“I express our sincere sympathies to you and through you to the entire French people. Please convey our condolences to the families and friends of the victims.”
An Egyptian Boing-737 passenger plane on a charter flight from Sharm al-Sheikh to Cairo crashed today in the Red Sea, killing 148 passengers and crew members, most of them French.