Two more Smolensk disaster victims buried in wrong graves

Aftermath of Smolensk crash: photo - wikipedia

“Reports following genetic tests on the bodies of two Smolensk disaster victims exhumed last week show unequivocally that they were buried in the wrong graves,” Poland's Chief Military Prosecutor's Office declared in a statement issued to the Polish Press Agency (PAP) on Wednesday.

The exhumations, which were carried out in Warsaw in the early hours of Monday 12 November, took place at Temple of Divine Providence (Warsaw's new national pantheon), and a cemetery in the district of Pyry, south Warsaw.

Owing to the families' wishes, the names of the two exhumed men were not officially named, but it is understood that the remains were those of a clergyman and a Warsaw-based professor.

During last week's exhumations, Military Prosecutor Captain Andrzej Wicharski told reporters that “most probably, in spite of correct identification by the families [of the victims], the bodies were mistakenly identified by the Russian side during procedures carried out at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Moscow.”

Tests were carried out last week by forensic departments in Krakow and Wroclaw.

Of the nine exhumations of Smolensk victims carried out to date, six of these victims were buried in the wrong graves, including former President of the Polish government-in-exile Ryszard Kaczorowski and Solidarity activist Anna Walentynowicz.

The 2010 Smolensk air disaster occurred amid thick fog as the delegation of President Lech Kaczynski flew to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Crime, marking the execution of over 22,000 Polish officers by Soviet secret police (NKVD).

All 96 Poles on board the plane died in the crash. (nh)