Poland's top brass dead in Russia crash: official

Poland's top military commanders perished with the NATO member's President Lech Kaczynski in a plane crash Saturday in Russia, according to an official passenger list published by the government.

Poland's top military commanders perished with the NATO member's President Lech Kaczynski in a plane crash Saturday in Russia, according to an official passenger list published by the government.

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A scan of a list of 88 passengers aboard the Polish government Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft published Saturday on a Polish government website showed the names of Poland's chief of staff General Franciszek Gagor and Major General Bronislaw, head of operational forces.

General Tadeusz Buk, head of land forces, Andrzej Blasik, air force commander and special forces chief Wojciech Potasinki as well as navy vice-admiral Andrzej Karweta were also on the list.

"There will be a generational shift in the Polish army. It's a process which has already begun but this twist of fate will accelerate it," Professor Lena Kolarska-Bobinska, a Warsaw-based political analyst, told AFP Saturday.

The Polish dignitaries were to attend a ceremony for thousands of Polish troops massacred by Russian forces during World War II.