The conservative government has long held a vendetta against Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin for the death of of the former Polish president Lech Kaczynski, twin brother of ruling Law and Justice Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, eighteen members of the Polish parliament, the Polish central bank chief, military commanders of all the branches of the Polish armed forces, and a former president. The officials were killed in a plane crash in near Smolensk, Russia in 2010.
The initial investigation found pilot error amid poor visibility that caused the crash. However, a new investigation was opened in 2015 when the Law and Justice party came to power.
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Wednesday, Poland upped the ante by declaring an internal investigation showed the plane’s left wing showed signs of an explosion. “Much damage to the left wing of the TU 154M plane carried traces of an explosion,” stated the findings of an investigation by a group of British explosive specialists. The British Ministry of Defense Forensic Explosives Laboratory has been retained to assist in the investigation.
A spokesman for the MoD said: “The Forensic Explosives Laboratory (FEL) has agreed to a request from the Polish authorities to provide explosive trace analysis in relation to the Smolensk air disaster,” reported the Washington Examiner.
Russia has refused to return the wreckage for investigation and have been accused of altering flight recordings.
For its part, the Russian government has called the allegations ridiculous and groundless.
