On April 10, 2010, at 10:41am, the Polish presidential Tu-154M plane crashed near Smoleńsk in Russia. All 96 passengers and members of the crew, including then-president Lech Kaczyński and the First Lady Maria Kaczyńska, were killed.
The official Polish delegation was on the way to Smoleńsk in Russia to attend the commemorations of the 70th anniversary of the Katyń massacre.
10 April 2010, President of the Republic of Poland Lech Kaczyński, First Lady Maria Kaczyńska and other members of the delegation travelling to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the #KatynMassacre died tragically when their plane crashed near Smolensk, Russia. pic.twitter.com/YU7AQZtIh6
— Institute of National Remembrance (@ipngovpl_eng) April 10, 2023
The Katyn forest is where a horrible act of mass executions was carried out by the Soviets in the spring of 1940. It took more than 22.000 lives of prisoners of war and imprisoned civilians, members of the country’s elite. Read more about the Katyń massacre – the elimination of the Polish elites by the Soviet system.
The list of fatalities:
| Name | Age | Title/role |
| Joanna Agacka-Indecka | 45 | President of the Polish Bar Council |
| Ewa Bąkowska | 47 | Representative of the Katyn Families |
| Lt. Gen. Andrzej Błasik | 47 | Commander of the Air Force |
| Krystyna Bochenek | 56 | Deputy Marshal of the Senate (PO) |
| Anna Maria Borowska | 81 | Representative of the Katyn Families |
| Bartosz Borowski | 31 | Representative of the Katyn Families |
| Maj. Gen. Tadesz Buk | 49 | Commander of the Land Forces |
| Brig. Gen. Miron Chodakowski | 52 | Orthodox Ordinary of the Polish Armed Forces |
| Lt. Col. Czesław Cywiński | 84 | President of the World Association of Home Army Soldiers |
| Lt. Col. Zbigniew Dębski | 87 | Co-founder of the Union of Warsaw Insurgents |
| Leszek Deptuła | 57 | Member of the Sejm (PSL) |
| Grzegorz Dolniak | 50 | Member of the Sejm (PO) |
| Katarzyna Doraczyńska | 31 | Press office staffer at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland |
| Edward Duchnowski | 80 | Secretary General of the Union of Sybiraks |
| Aleksander Fedorowicz | 39 | Interpreter at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland |
| Janina Fetlińska | 57 | Senator (PiS) |
| Lt. Col. Jarosław Florczak | 41 | Close protection officer |
| WO1 Artur Francuz | 39 | Close protection officer |
| Gen. Franciszek Gągor | 58 | Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces |
| Grażyna Gęsicka | 58 | Member of the Sejm, former Minister of Regional Development (PiS) |
| Brig. Gen. Kazimierz Gilarski | 54 | Commander of the Warsaw Garrison |
| Przemysław Gosiewski | 45 | Member of the Sejm, former Deputy Prime Minister (PiS) |
| Bronisław Gostomski | 61 | Personal Roman Catholic chaplain to President Kaczorowski and parish priest of St. Andrew Bobola in Hammersmith, London |
| Maj. Robert Grzywna | 36 | Co-pilot |
| Mariusz Handzlik | 44 | Undersecretary of State at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland |
| Roman Indrzejczyk | 78 | Personal Roman Catholic chaplain to President Kaczyński |
| Lt. Paweł Janeczek | 37 | Close protection officer |
| Dariusz Jankowski | 54 | Staffer at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland |
| Natalia Januszko | 22 | Flight attendant |
| Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka | 59 | Member of the Sejm, former Deputy Prime Minister (SLD) |
| Józef Joniec | 50 | Roman Catholic priest, Piarist father |
| Ryszard Kaczorowski | 90 | Former president of the Republic of Poland in exile |
| Maria Kaczyńska | 67 | Wife of President Kaczyński |
| Lech Kaczyński | 60 | President of the Republic of Poland |
| Sebastian Karpiniuk | 37 | Member of the Sejm (PO) |
| VAdm. Andrzej Karweta | 51 | Commander of the Navy |
| Mariusz Kazana | 49 | Director of Diplomatic Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| Janusz Kochanowski | 69 | Ombudsman for Civil Rights |
| Brig. Gen. Stanisław Komornicki | 85 | Chancellor of the Order of Virtuti Militari |
| Stanisław Komorowski | 56 | Deputy Minister of National Defence |
| WO2 Paweł Krajewski | 35 | Close protection officer |
| Andrzej Kremer | 48 | Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs |
| Zdzisław Król | 74 | Roman Catholic priest, member of the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites |
| Janusz Krupski | 58 | Head of the Office for War Veterans and Victims of Oppression |
| Janusz Kurtyka | 49 | President of the Institute of National Remembrance |
| Andrzej Kwaśnik | 53 | Roman Catholic police chaplain and chaplain to the Katyn Families |
| Lt. Gen. Bronisław Kwiatkowski | 59 | Commander of the Operational Command of the Polish Armed Forces |
| Col. Wojciech Lubiński | 40 | Personal physician to President Kaczyński |
| Tadeusz Lutoborski | 83 | Representative of the Katyn Families |
| Barbara Maciejczyk | 28 | Flight attendant |
| Barbara Mamińska | 52 | Director of the Personnel and Decorations Office at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland |
| Zenona Mamontowicz-Łojek | 72 | President of the Polish Katyn Foundation |
| Stefan Melak | 63 | Head of the Katyn Committee |
| Tomasz Merta | 44 | Deputy Minister of Culture and National Heritage, General Conservator of Monuments |
| WO2 Andrzej Michalak | 36 | Flight engineer |
| Capt. Dariusz Michałowski | 35 | Close protection officer |
| Stanisław Mikke | 62 | Deputy Head of the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites |
| Justyna Moniuszko | 24 | Flight attendant |
| Aleksandra Natalli-Świat | 51 | Member of the Sejm (PiS) |
| Janina Natusiewicz-Mirer | 70 | Social activist |
| 2nd Lt. Piotr Nosek | 35 | Close protection officer |
| Piotr Nurowski | 64 | President of the Polish Olympic Committee |
| Bronisława Orawiec-Löffler | 81 | Representative of the Katyn Families |
| Lt. Col. Jan Osiński | 35 | Roman Catholic priest, Vice-Chancellor of the Curia of the Military Ordinariate |
| Col. Adam Pilch | 44 | Lutheran military chaplain |
| Katarzyna Piskorska | 73 | Representative of the Katyn Families |
| Maciej Płażyński | 52 | Member of the Sejm, former Marshal of the Sejm (independent) |
| Maj. Gen. Tadeusz Płoski | 54 | Roman Catholic Bishop of the Military Ordinariate of the Polish Armed Forces |
| JWO Agnieszka Pogródka–Węcławek | 35 | Close protection officer |
| Maj. Gen. Włodzmierz Potasiński | 53 | Commander of the Special Forces |
| Capt. Arkadiusz Protasiuk | 35 | Pilot |
| Andrzej Przewoźnik | 46 | Secretary of the Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites |
| Krzysztof Putra | 52 | Deputy Marshal of the Sejm (PiS) |
| Ryszard Rumianek | 62 | Roman Catholic priest, Rector of the Card. Wyszyński University |
| Arkadiusz Rybicki | 57 | Member of the Sejm (PO) |
| Andrzej Sariusz-Skąpski | 72 | President of the Federation of Katyn Families |
| Wojciech Seweryn | 70 | Sculptor, author of the Katyn Monument in Chicago |
| Sławomir Skrzypek | 46 | President of the National Bank of Poland |
| Leszek Solski | 75 | Representative of the Katyn Families |
| Władysław Stasiak | 44 | Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, former Minister of the Interior and Administration |
| WO2 Jacek Surówka | 36 | Close protection officer |
| Aleksander Szczygło | 46 | Head of the National Security Bureau |
| Jerzy Szmajdziński | 58 | Deputy Marshal of the Sejm, former Defence Minister (SLD) |
| Jolanta Szymanek-Deresz | 55 | Member of the Sejm, former Head of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland (SLD) |
| Izabela Tomaszewska | 54 | Head of the Protocolar Unit at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland |
| WO2 Marek Uleryk | 35 | Close protection officer |
| Anna Walentynowicz | 80 | Co-founder of the Solidarity trade union |
| Teresa Walewska-Przyjałkowska | 71 | Deputy President of the Golgotha of the East Foundation |
| Zbigniew Wassermann | 60 | Member of the Sejm, former Minister for Intelligence Coordination (PiS) |
| Wiesław Woda | 63 | Member of the Sejm (PSL) |
| Edward Wojtas | 55 | Member of the Sejm (PSL) |
| Paweł Wypych | 42 | Secretary of State at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, former President of the Social Insurance Institution |
| Stanisław Zając | 60 | Senator (PiS) |
| Janusz Zakrzeński | 74 | Theatrical and film actor, member of the Program Board of the Union of Piłsudskiites |
| Lt. Artur Ziętek | 31 | Navigator |
| Gabriela Zych | 81 | Representative of the Katyn Families |
Natalia Jasińska
Pictures: IPN
