Poland marks eight years since fatal jet crash in Russia
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
10.04.2018 16:56
-
Poland marks eight years since fatal jet crash in Russia
Prayers for the dead, memorial gatherings, artistic events and the unveiling of a new monument were on the agenda as Poland on Tuesday commemorated the eighth anniversary of the 2010 air crash which killed 96 people, including then-President Lech Kaczyński.
The site of the crash of the Polish presidential Tu-154 plane near Smolensk, western Russia, where President Lech Kaczyński, his wife Maria and 94 others were killed on April 10, 2010. Photo: PAP/Wojciech Pacewicz
On April 10, 2010, a Polish delegation of top officials was flying to Russia to take part in commemorations of the 70th anniversary of a massacre of Polish officers in the Katyn Forest by Soviet secret police during World War II.
The plane crashed as it approached the landing strip of the Smolensk military airport in western Russia in heavy fog, killing all those on board.
On Tuesday morning, officials including Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki laid flowers at a monument to the victims of the crash at Warsaw’s Powązki cemetery.
President Andrzej Duda, meanwhile, visited the tomb of President Lech Kaczyński and First Lady Maria Kaczyńska at Wawel Cathedral in the southern city of Kraków before returning to Warsaw for the unveiling ceremony of a new monument to the crash victims.
Jarosław Kaczyński, the twin brother of the late president and the leader of the country’s ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, accompanied by government ministers, took part in a memorial roll call in front of the presidential palace in Warsaw.
On Tuesday evening, Jarosław Kaczyński was set to lead the 96th and, as he has said, the last monthly March of Remembrance for the crash victims through the Polish capital’s Old Town district following a memorial mass at the local St. John's Cathedral.