Thursday marks exactly 15 years since a Polish plane carrying President Lech Kaczyński, his wife and 94 others, including top political and military figures, crashed near Smolensk, western Russia, killing all those on board.
A traditional roll call of honour will be held in front of the presidential palace in Warsaw at 8:41 a.m., the exact time of the disaster on April 10, 2010.
Officials are expected to lay wreaths at a statue commemorating President Lech Kaczyński in central Warsaw and at a separate monument unveiled in 2018 to honour all 96 victims of the disaster.
Tributes will also be paid to the late presidential couple in the crypt at Wawel Cathedral in the southern city of Kraków where they are laid to rest.
A raft of other ceremonies are scheduled for the day, including a commemorative event at Warsaw's Powązki Military Cemetery in front of a memorial to the victims of the tragedy 15 years ago.
The officials on the ill-fated flight had been on their way to commemorate some 22,000 Polish prisoners of war and intellectuals who were killed in the spring of 1940 on orders from top Soviet authorities in what is known as the Katyn Massacre.
(gs)
Source: IAR