Protesters in Russia try to disrupt Poland’s commemoration of president’s plane crash

Poland’s ambassador to Russia said a small group of Russians tried to disrupt a commemoration on Thursday marking the 15th anniversary of the plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczyński and 95 other people.

The protesters held banners and chanted anti-Polish slogans as Krzysztof Krajewski, the Polish ambassador to Russia, led the event in Smolensk, Russia, where the plane crashed on April 10, 2010, he told RMF FM radio.

“They questioned everything, including the war in Ukraine. I heard slogans that were already familiar to me, that Poland is a sponsor of terrorism, that we are falsifying history,” Krajewski said told the private broadcaster.

Back in Poland, observances were being held to remember what is widely considered the greatest tragedy in the nation’s post-World War II history, one that has led to greater mistrust of Russia and deep divisions within Poland.

Immediately after the crash, gestures by Russian President Vladimir Putin created hopes for better ties between Russia and Poland. But Russia’s ensuing refusal to hand over the wreckage to Poland has instead engendered greater distrust as fears grow of Russian aggression in the region.

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Among those who joined remembrance events in Warsaw was Jarosław Kaczyński, the surviving twin of the late president and leader of the country’s main opposition party, Law and Justice, who continues to have a prominent role in political life in the Central European nation of 38 million people.

The plane crash occurred when the presidential delegation was flying to Smolensk, Russia, to pay tribute to some 22,000 Polish officers killed in the Katyn massacres by the Soviet secret police during World War II. Traveling with Kaczyński and the first lady were military commanders, the president of the national bank, senior members of the clergy as well as lawmakers and other top officials. All 96 aboard were killed.

A Polish investigation carried out soon after the crash concluded that it was an accident resulting pilot error and heavy fog. However, Kaczyński has long suggested that Prime Minister Donald Tusk, his political rival, and Putin colluded to eliminate his brother from public life.

Years of investigations while his party was in power did not produce evidence of that claim. Many Poles accuse Kaczyński of fomenting a dangerous conspiracy theory. He repeated his unproven allegation of foul play in an interview Thursday in the “Super Express” tabloid. He said his brother had a political plan, and he remains convinced that there was “an assassination attempt organized by those for whom this plan was detrimental.”

Tusk said it was time for reconciliation.

“The memory of the Smolensk disaster and its victims should no longer divide us,” Tusk said on X. “Rebuilding community and mutual respect is possible and necessary, even if it is still very difficult.”