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Depesza Amb. Lee Feinsteina Do Dept Stanu USA Po Katastrofie W Smoleńsku, 10 Kwietnia 2010 R.
Depesza Amb. Lee Feinsteina Do Dept Stanu USA Po Katastrofie W Smoleńsku, 10 Kwietnia 2010 R.
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Shortly before 1000 Warsaw time, a Polish government Tu-154 plane carrying a delegation headed by Polish President
Lech Kaczynski crashed in heavy fog at the airport in Smolensk, Russia. Russian officials have told the press that there
were no survivors; the foreign ministry spokesman said there were 88 passengers on board. The delegation was en
route to ceremonies hosted by the Russian government to commemorate the 70t1, anniversary of the Katyn
massacres. There is as yet not government confirmation of the deaths, but there is no expectation of survivors.
Speaker of the Polish Sejm (the lower house of parliament) Bronislaw Komorowski is en route to Warsaw to take over
the powers of the presidency and those of the Commander in Chief, according to press reports. According to the Polish
constitution, if the president dies in office, the Speaker temporarily assumes the presidency, and has 14 days to
announce the date of special presidential elections. The elections must be held within 60 days of his
announcement. This is the first major test of the Polish constitution, and the government is itself sorting out the details
of the procedure in this unprecedented circumstance.
Prime Minister Tusk is returning from Gdansk to Warsaw, and will chair a meeting of the Council of Ministers at 1P local
time. Tusk has received condolence telephone calls from Russian Prime Minister Putin, German Chancellor Angela
Merkel, and other world leaders.
UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05768220 Date: 08/31/2015
UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05768220 Date: 08/31/2015
The magnitude of the loss is difficult to overstate including, in addition to the President and the First Lady, the top
national security leadership of the Presidential Chancellery, the head of Poland's armed forces, all or nearly all of
Poland's military chiefs, a deputy minister of defense, a deputy foreign minister, a presidential candidate, and members
of Parliament. Crowds of people with candles and flowers have started to assemble in front of the presidential palace in
downtown Warsaw. A mass in honor of those who died will be held later this afternoon. Poland is in shock and entering
a period of deep national mourning.
Below is an unofficial and incomplete manifest of those who are on the plane. Among them are:
President Lech Kaczynski
First Lady Maria Kaczynska
Former President Ryszard Kaczorowski
Wladislaw Stasiak, Chief of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland
Aleksander Szczyglo, State Secretary, Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland and Chief of the Office of
National Security
GEN Franciszek Gagor, Chief of National Defense
Jerzy Szmajdzinski, Vice Speaker of the Sejm and Democratic Left Alliance Presidential Candidate
Andrzej Kremer, Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Stanislaw Komorwoski, Under Secretary of Defense, Ministry of Defense
Mariusz Handzlik, Under Secretary of State, Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland
Slawomir Skrzypek, Chairman of the National Bank of Poland
DELEGACIA OFICJALNA
1. Pan Ryszard KACZOROWSKI b. Prezydent RP na Uchodictwie
2. Pan Krzysztof PUTRA Wicemarszatek Sejmu RP
3. Pan Jerzy SZMAJDZINSKI Wicemarszalek Sejmu RP
4. Pani Krystyna BOCHENEK Wicemarszalek Senatu RP
5. Pan Jerzy BAHR Ambasador RP w Federacji Rosyjskiej 6. Pan Wtadystaw STASIAK Szef Kancelarii Prezydenta RP
7. Pan Aleksander SZCZYGLO Szef Biura Bezpieczeristwa Narodowego
8. Pan Jacek SASIN Sekretarz Stanu, Zastqpca Szefa Kancelarii Prezydenta RP 9. Pan Paw& WYPYCH Sekretarz Stanu
w Kancelarii Prezydenta RP
10. Pan Mariusz HANDZLIK Podsekretarz Stanu w Kancelarii Prezydenta RP
11. Pan Andrzej KREMER Podsekretarz Stanu w Ministerstwie Spraw Zagranicznych
UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05768220 Date: 08/31/2015
UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05768220 Date: 08/31/2015
UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05768220 Date: 08/31/2015
UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05768220 Date: 08/31/2015
LEE. FEINSTEIN
AMBASSADOR TO POLAND
+4822 504-2900
UNCLASSIFIED U.S. Department of State Case No. F-2014-20439 Doc No. C05768220 Date: 08/31/2015