Wednesday marked exactly 14 years since a Polish plane carrying President Lech Kaczyński, his wife and 94 others, including top political and military figures, crashed near Smolensk, western Russia, killing all those on board.
A memorial service was held in the Polish capital in the morning, after which a group of conservative politicians laid wreaths and lit candles at a statue commemorating President Lech Kaczyński in central Warsaw and at a separate monument unveiled in 2018 to honour all 96 victims of the disaster, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
A traditional roll call of honour was held in front of the presidential palace in Warsaw at 8:41 a.m., the exact time of the disaster on April 10, 2010.
President Andrzej Duda in the morning paid tribute to the late presidential couple in the crypt at Wawel Cathedral in the southern city of Kraków where they are laid to rest.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz led a commemorative event at Warsaw's Powązki Military Cemetery in front of a monument honouring the victims of the disaster 14 years ago.
Those in attendance included government and parliamentary leaders, alongside Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, the IAR news agency reported.
In a separate tribute, parliamentary Speakers Szymon Hołownia and Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska laid flowers at plaques commemorating parliamentarians who perished in the 2010 plane crash.
A raft of other events were planned across the country throughout the day to mark the 14th anniversary of the disaster.
Commemorations in the Polish capital were due to conclude in the evening with a March of Remembrance for the crash victims led by Jarosław Kaczyński, the head of Poland’s opposition conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party and the late president’s twin.
The officials on the ill-fated flight had been on their way to commemorate some 22,000 Polish prisoners of war and intellectuals who were killed in the spring of 1940 on orders from top Soviet authorities in what is known as the Katyn Massacre.
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Source: IAR, PAP, president.pl