“The Russian ambassador appeared at the monthly anniversary”? There is no confirmation

After the celebration of the Smolensk Monthly in Warsaw on February 10, an entry appeared on the X platform with information that the Russian ambassador was also at the ceremony. A photo of Ambassador Sergei Andreev was added to the post, but it was taken during another outdoor event, judging by the different weather than the one in the capital on February 10 and the lighter clothes of the people visible in the photo. “The ambassador of Russia appeared at today’s monthly anniversary” – the entry said, which has been viewed over 15,000 times. times. “Putin gave a sign to PiS members not to forget who they work for”; “He pulls his own towards his own”; “Jarek invites his friends”; “I never doubted that #PiStoRussia”; “You can see where they are looking for support,” Internet users commented. They later spread this post others users X platforms

However, some people paid attention to the time when the photo was taken. “Like today? Sunny? And without a coat or jacket? Probably fake. Or not the photo”; “It doesn’t look like a winter’s day”; “Summer suddenly happened?”; “Photo from February 10, 2024?” – they asked. We explain.

February 10, 2024 – as every month – the most important politicians of Law and Justice, after the morning service celebrated in the Warsaw seminary church, went to the monument of President Lech Kaczyński to pray and lay flowers there. Then they did the same in front of the Monument to the Victims of the Smolensk Tragedy. In laying wreaths, PiS president Jarosław Kaczyński was accompanied by, among others, former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, head of the PiS club Mariusz Błaszczak, Piotr Gliński, Antoni Macierewicz, Ryszard Terlecki, Maciej Wąsik.

A group of PiS opponents also appeared at PiS Square. Activists came with banners: “The Smolensk lie”, “There is nothing eternal on Piłsudski Square”, “It’s time for a happy Poland”, “The specter of world war… PiS wants a civil war. A gift for Putin”, “No more PiS rule “. When a group of PiS politicians were walking from the monument of President Lech Kaczyński towards the monument to the victims of the Smolensk Tragedy of 2010, there were shouts: “where is the wreck”, “you will be imprisoned”, “thieves”. Then President Kaczyński tore down a blue banner with the inscription “Smolensk lie” held by one of the participants.

Let us recall: on April 10, 2010, 96 people died in the crash of the Tu-154M plane near Smolensk, including President Lech Kaczyński and his wife Maria, the highest commanders of the Polish Army and the last president of the Republic of Poland in exile, Ryszard Kaczorowski. The Polish delegation was heading to the ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre.

Internet users are right to note that Ambassador Andreev’s photo could not have been taken on February 10 this year. The people immortalized in it are thinly dressed, and in the back you can see trees full of greenery. He took this photo May 9, 2023 Polish Press Agency photographer Tomasz Gzell. The Russian ambassador then tried to lay a wreath at the Mausoleum of Soviet Soldiers Cemetery in Warsaw on the occasion of Victory Day celebrated in Russia that day. He was prevented from doing so by protesters against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Therefore, the ambassador’s photo was not taken during the February monthly commemoration. Our findings show that Andreev did not participate in the celebrations. We did not find it in any materials showing what happened on February 10, 2024 at Warsaw’s Piłsudski Square, and it is not in the public photographs. His presence was not noted by monthly participants or journalists. No editorial office reported this.

The press office of Law and Justice, in information for Konkret24, officially denied that the Russian ambassador was at the monthly meeting on February 10, 2024. We also sent a question to the Russian Embassy in Poland, but we did not receive a response before the text was published.