Ceremonies took place across Poland on Tuesday (September 17) to mark the 80th anniversary of the country's invasion by Soviet troops, who occupied Poland and divided it with Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War Two.
The Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 started without a formal declaration of war two weeks after Nazi forces entered the country as agreed in a pact between Hitler and Stalin to divide its territories between the two powers.
Attending a ceremony in Warsaw, Polish President Andrzej Duda laid a wreath to members of the Polish Underground State who were murdered by Soviet forces.
In the northern city of Gdańsk, a memorial service was held in honour of Poles who were deported to Siberia by the Soviets.
According to historians, the official reason for the invasion was the protection of Ukrainian and Belorussian minorities in what were then Poland's eastern territories.
Polish troops, engaged in fighting with German forces approaching from the west were caught completely off-guard by the invasion, which some military field commanders interpreted as Russian assistance to fend off the German attack.
Earlier in September ceremonies were held throughout Poland to mark the 80th anniversary of the Nazi invasion.
Few places suffered the level of death and destruction seen in Poland. It lost about a fifth of its population, including the vast majority of its three million Jewish citizens. After the war, Poland remained under Soviet domination until 1989.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, Reuters