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Polish President Lech Kaczynski has voiced his anger at the Soviet role in World War II at commemorations marking the beginning of the global conflict.

In front of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other world leaders, Kaczynski said the 1939 Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact had divided Europe, the BBC reported.

At an earlier event in the port city of Gdansk, he had described Russia's actions as a "stab in the back".

Putin said all pacts with the Nazis were "morally unacceptable".

The day of ceremonies began at the exact time and location where, on 1 September 1939, a German battleship fired at a Polish fort on Westerplatte peninsula - the first shots of World War II.

Speaking at the dawn ceremony, Kaczynski, referring to the occupation of eastern Poland by Soviet forces a fortnight later, said: "On 17 September... Poland received a stab in the back... This blow came from Bolshevik Russia."