Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has left for the site of the plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski, to meet with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk who was also on his way to Smolensk.

"The Polish premier wished to travel to the scene of the tragedy. I will go to meet him. We will visit the place of the crash together," the Interfax news agency cited Putin as saying.

Putin said the bodies of the crash victims would be sent to Moscow for identification, and a special center would be set up to help the victims' relatives from Poland.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who was also on his way to the site, said that "This kind of dramatic tragedy is unheard of in the modern world."