On April 10, 2026, at exactly 8:41 a.m. – the moment 16 years ago when a Tu-154M crashed near Smolensk – central commemorations honoring the 96 victims of the national tragedy began in front of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw.
President of the Republic of Poland Karol Nawrocki, together with the First Lady, laid flowers at the memorial plaque. With a military honor guard present, the Polish national anthem was sung, and then the names of all 96 people who died on April 10, 2010, while traveling to the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre were read aloud. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the victims’ families, clergy, and the leadership of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.
After the memorial roll call, the president walked to Marshal Józef Piłsudski Square, where he laid wreaths at the Monument to President Lech Kaczyński and at the Monument to the Victims of the Smolensk Tragedy of 2010.
During the day, Chancellery of the President head Zbigniew Bogucki represented the head of state at a Mass at the Seminary Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, and laid flowers at the plaques commemorating the victims in the presidential chapel and on the façade of the Presidential Palace.
In the evening, a solemn Mass for the victims of the disaster was held at the Archcathedral of St. John the Baptist, attended in person by President Karol Nawrocki.
At the same time, the leadership of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland laid flowers on the graves of all 96 victims in cemeteries across Poland – including the Powązki Military and Old Powązki cemeteries in Warsaw, the Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków, Srebrzysko in Gdańsk, and necropolises in Wrocław, Lublin, and Łódź.
“We remember” – this is the one word President Nawrocki posted on social media, along with a video.
The Smolensk air disaster of April 10, 2010, claimed the lives of President Lech Kaczyński and his wife Maria, the last president of Poland in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski, ministers, members of parliament, senators, generals, clergy, representatives of the Katyn families, and the aircrew. To this day, it remains one of the largest tragedies in Poland’s postwar history.
Źródło: Prezydent.pl
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