Poland remembers Smolensk tragedy victims today

Memorial ceremonies will take place in Poland today to mark three years after the air crash that had killed 96 passengers, including Polish president Lech Kaczynski, first lady and most of the country's political elite, RT reports.

The tragedy happened early in the morning on April 10, 2010. A delegation of high-profile Polish politicians were flying to western Russia to take part in commemorative ceremonies dedicated to the 1940 Katyn forest massacre in which thousands of Polish officers were murdered and executed by Stalin's secret police around 14 kilometers west of the city of Smolensk.

Bad weather and the human factor were named by experts from investigative commissions set up separately by Poland and Russia shortly after the tragedy to find out what had caused the crash.

The plane’s “black box” helped to reveal the crew had been informed of heavy fog and low visibility and asked to reroute to a different airport for landing, but nonetheless they made the fatal decision to land. The pilots had been put under psychological pressure exerted by some of the officials on board when making the decision, the experts also concluded.

A number of Polish officials, including the head of the Prime Minister’s office, Interior Minister and Defense Minister, are expected to visit the memorial ceremony at the site of the crash in Smolensk.