Putin thanks leaders of other countries for their solidarity over Russian plane crash

KIEV, November 2. /TASS/. Residents of Ukrainian capital Kiev and ambassadors from countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States have visited the Russian embassy there to leave sympathy notes in the Book of Condolence following Saturday's crash of the Russian airliner in Sinai, Egypt.

The book was opened as a stream of locals began arriving with flowers and candles, embassy press secretary Oleg Grishin told TASS on Monday after Ukraine's President, Petro Poroshenko, had offered his own official condolences to Russia.

Parapets of the embassy building are laden with flowers, wreaths, toys and paper model aircraft from a flow of people not thinning even after nightfall.

One young man arriving told TASS of his surprise at seeing the offerings. "I thought I would be the one to come. But I see crowds of people, a sea of flowers, and people crying," he said. "Last year, nobody came after a Moscow metro accident. People were afraid as radicals were constantly on guard here and it was dangerous".