In early days of Russia's war, Polish officials looked into alleged attempt on Duda's life
Andrzej Duda (Photo: LIGA.net)

At the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Warsaw investigated a possible assassination attempt on President Andrzej Duda and Chief of the General Staff of the country's Armed Forces Rajmund Andrzejczak, Polish journalist Zbigniew Parafianowicz writes in his book Poland at War.

One of the chapters mentions that on March 25, a new Polish Boeing 737-800 NG plane with Duda and Andrzejczak on board made an emergency landing on its way to Jasionka (Rzeszów) for a meeting with US President Joe Biden.

Passengers say they were "close to death" due to a malfunctioning trimmer as the pilots struggled with the steering controls. Upon landing, the delegation boarded a different plane.

Sabotage or assassination attempt were considered as the possible causes during the investigation.

On April 10, 2010, a plane crash occurred in the vicinity of the "Northern" military airfield near Smolensk. All 96 people on board died, including then President Lech Kaczyński and the First Lady. In 2011, the Interstate Aviation Committee in Moscow and Polish investigators concluded that pilot error may have been the cause of the crash. Poland placed the responsibility on the Russian controllers, but Moscow did not recognize this. In 2022, Poland stated that Russia's involvement in the plane crash was considered established.
warPolandAndrzej DudaRajmund Andrzejczak