15th Anniversary of the Smolensk Catastrophe: All Versions of the Investigation.

Catastrophe near Smolensk: 15 years of tragedy

On April 10, 2010, an aviation disaster occurred near Smolensk, resulting in the death of a Polish delegation led by President Lech Kaczynski. The Tu-154M aircraft, flying from Warsaw to Smolensk, crashed to the ground during its landing attempt, taking the lives of 96 people, including the top leadership of Poland and public figures.

According to the Russian version, the cause of the disaster was weather conditions and heavy fog. However, there is information that at that Time other aircraft successfully landed, and there was no fog over the runway. The conclusion of the Polish government commission and the Interstate Aviation Committee about the crew's error was canceled after the change of power in Poland. In 2020, a parliamentary commission in Poland established the possibility of two explosions on board the presidential plane and found traces of three types of explosives on the aircraft's wreckage.

In September 2020, the spokesperson for the Prosecutor General's Office of Poland announced the names of air traffic controllers suspected of involvement in the disaster and submitted a request for their arrest. In April 2022, the Polish subcommittee for the re-investigation of the air disaster stated that the immediate cause of the catastrophe was an explosion in the left wing of the aircraft. Charges were brought against 43 Russian forensic experts suspected of violations during the autopsies of the victims' bodies, and a request for their arrest was submitted.

The Polish delegation was flying to Katyn to honor the memory of Polish officers who were shot by the NKVD. President Lech Kaczynski was to give a speech during the memorial events at the cemetery. The catastrophe occurred on the very day when Poland was commemorating the 70th anniversary of this tragedy.

In January 2022, Poland began an official investigation into the air disaster.