THE FIRST LADY OF POLAND ANNA KOMOROWSKA AND RELATIVES OF THE LOST HONOURED THE MEMORY OF THE VICTIMS OF THE PLANE CRASH IN SMOLENSK
On April 9th, a delegation led by the first lady of the Republic of Poland Anna Komorowska paid a visit to Smolensk. They honoured the memory of the passengers and crewmen of the plane Tu-154 that had crash-landed at the aerodrome ‘Severny’ (‘Northern’) the year before claiming the lives of President of Poland Lech Kaczynski and other government representatives, the Army, clergy, and public organizations of Poland.
The plane with the delegation from Poland on board landed in the airport ‘Vnukovo’ in Moscow. Then, the relatives of the lost went to Smolensk by bus. Plenipotentiary of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District Georgy Poltavchenko and Governor of the Smolensk region Sergey Antufiev participated in the mourning ceremony that started at the birch growing at the crash site of the Polish air liner. All the passengers and crewmen of the President’s plane were called by name and 96 icon-lamps were lit in their memory.
‘We are standing at the place which will forever be a painful wound in our hearts and memory. There is no escaping fate and we cannot turn back time. However, we can continue helping one another. We still remember and grieve over our citizens who perished in this land’, markedAnna Komorowska in the hope that the relatives of the lost would find a little relief and consolation in their common feelings.
Once the divine service in memory of the lost conducted by both Polish and Smolensk clergymen was over, Anna Komorowska, Georgy Poltavchenko and Sergey Antufiev laid wreaths on the memorial placed at the crash site a year ago. After that the delegation visited the Memorial complex ‘Katyn’, where another memorial service was held.