In a recent conference held at the Column Hall in the Sejm, Antoni Macierewicz, the head of the Smoleńsk subcommission, delivered a presentation laden with serious allegations regarding the 2010 Smoleńsk air disaster, which claimed the life of the Polish President and many other high-ranking officials. During the event, Macierewicz provided a detailed narrative accusing both Russian and certain Polish factions of actively obstructing the investigation into the tragic crash.
Macierewicz’s response to a question from Niezalezna.pl journalist brought to light several contentious points. He argued that the Polish government, under the direction of then-Prime Minister Donald Tusk, sent communications to Russian authorities, erroneously blaming Polish pilots for the crash. According to Macierewicz, these communications served to distort the true causes of the disaster, a view he has consistently held.
Moreover, Macierewicz made a striking accusation regarding the logistics and readiness of the aircraft used on that fateful day. He claimed that the lack of a backup aircraft and the decision to send the plane for maintenance to a company linked to a friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with ties to Russian intelligence services, were part of a deliberate strategy to endanger the Polish delegation.
The conference also shed light on the broader implications of these actions, with Macierewicz suggesting that the Polish services under Tusk’s administration preferred Russian oversight over their own, a decision that culminated in the abandonment of a Polish-Russian agreement that would have allowed for joint investigation of such tragedies under the Chicago Convention. He emphasized the full transfer of investigative control and material evidence to the Russian side as a consequence of these decisions.
In his discourse, Macierewicz also noted a document stating that two weeks before the flight, military services subordinate to Tusk decided not to participate in the control of the aircraft, leaving it entirely to Russian services, whom they deemed more reliable.
The commentary was further expanded by Professor Wiesław Binienda, who criticized those in the Sejm who voted against the repatriation of the wreckage to Poland, hindering a thorough analysis of the crash remains still located in Smoleńsk. He emotionally noted that those who obstructed the investigation in this way have “blood on their hands.”