Transcript of a meeting with V. Putin and the emergency response team at the Tu-154 crash site.
Prime Minister of the Russian Federation - Events - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin holds a meeting of the emergency response team at the Tu-154 crash site
The early 97 pax information, instead of 96 comes probably from the fact, that one of them was late and missed the flight.
AFAIK the take of from Warsaw was almost 1 h late.
Arrakis