Poles identified Smolensk victims, Russian official says
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
08.06.2017 13:37
The bodies of victims of the 2010 Smolensk air disaster were identified by Polish officials, a spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry has said, amid revelations in Poland that body parts were mixed up.
Flowers at the site of the crash in 2010. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, on Thursday added that at the time of the crash Polish authorities pushed for the remains of the 96 victims to be handed over as quickly as possible.
The plane crashed as it was approaching the runway of the Smolensk military airport on 10 April 2010, killing all on board, including president Lech Kaczyński.
Zakharova said that Russian forensic experts conducted tests on 11 and 12 April 2010 and that the remains were handed over to Poland on 13 April.
Bodies were placed in coffins in the presence of Polish representatives “without being cleaned because the Poles themselves insisted on it. They were planning on running further tests and wanted to preserve as much material as possible,” Zakharova said.
She said that Russia did everything it could, and cannot be held accountable for what happened with the remains after they returned to Poland.
Polish officials did not immediately comment Zakharova's claims.
A new commission has claimed that the plane was brought down by a mid-air explosion and that Russian air traffic controllers deliberately misled Polish pilots as the plane approached the runway.
A new Polish probe into the crash was started by the State Prosecutor following allegations that Russian forensic documents contained several errors.
The new investigation, under which 83 of the victims will be exhumed by next year, has revealed that two bodies were switched, one coffin contained only half a set of remains, and a number of victims were buried together with the partial remains of up to seven other victims, including President Kaczyński, who was buried with the body parts of at least two other people.
New inquiries into the crash were launched after Poland’s governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, headed by the twin of the late president, came to power in October 2015.
PiS has long challenged an official report into the crash issued by the previous Polish government which cited a catalogue of errors on the Polish side, while also pointing to errors made by Russian staff at the control tower of Smolensk Military Airport.
A Russian report placed all the blame on the Poles. (vb/rg)
Source: PAP