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Putin Attends Katyn Memorial Ceremony

   VOA News 07 April 2010
   Russia's  Prime  Minister Vladimir Putin (r) and Polish Prime Minister
   Donald  Tusk  after a memorial ceremony for 22,000 Polish prisoners of
   war killed by Soviet secret police in 1940 in Katyn, 07 Apr 2

Photo: AP

   Russia's  Prime  Minister Vladimir Putin (r) and Polish Prime Minister
   Donald  Tusk  after a memorial ceremony for 22,000 Polish prisoners of
   war killed by Soviet secret police in 1940 in Katyn, 07 Apr 2010

   Russian  Prime  Minister  Vladimir  Putin attended a memorial ceremony
   Wednesday for 22,000 Polish prisoners of war killed by Soviet security
   forces during World War II.
   Polish  Prime  Minister Donald Tusk accompanied Mr. Putin at the joint
   commemoration  of  the  April 1940 Katyn massacre, near the modern-day
   Russian city of Smolensk.
   Mr.  Putin said for 50 years, the Soviets told what he called "cynical
   lies" to cover up the truth about Katyn.
   Prime  Minister  Tusk  urged  Mr.  Putin to ensure that all Soviet-era
   archives related to the massacre are open to researchers.
   U.S.  Secretary  of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement that the
   meeting  of  the  Polish  and  Russian leaders is a sign of hope for a
   bright and peaceful future.
   Soviet  dictator  Josef  Stalin  ordered  his secret police to execute
   22,000 captured Polish army officers and other prisoners of war.  The
   killings  took  place  in  several locations, but Katyn has become the
   chief symbol of loss.
   Russia  blamed  the  killings  on  Nazi  Germany  until  former Soviet
   President  Mihkail Gorbachev admitted in 1990 that the crimes had been
   committed  by  Stalin's  dreaded secret police - the forerunner of the
   KGB.

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