Polish authorities have commemorated 15 years since the crash of the presidential plane in Smolensk. As a result of the tragedy, 96 people lost their lives, including Lech Kaczyński, the then president of Poland, IPN reports.
Polish leader, Andrzej Duda, attended a service at the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow and laid a wreath at the presidential couple’s grave.
„Nothing will ever compensate for this loss, either for the loved ones or for the Republic of Poland. And this is a pain that does not go away, although 15 years have passed”, Duda said, quoted by the EFE News Agency.
„Memory of the Smolensk disaster and its victims should no longer divide us. Rebuilding community and mutual respect is possible and necessary, even though it remains very difficult. Let’s try”, Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, said in a post on social media.
15 years ago, the plane carrying Polish presidential couple Lech Kaczyński and Maria Kaczyńska crashed in Smolensk, along with 94 other Polish officials. They were on their way to a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Katyń massacre, where nearly 22 000 Polish citizens were executed en masse by Soviet secret forces during World War II.
A street in Chisinau bears the name of the late Polish President Lech Kaczyński.
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