Knew two on board
I was at a Polish airforce wedding a few months before the crash and two who died in it were there too.
From what we have heard the Polish president had prior form or ordering pilots to land against their professional judgement. In a previous case the pilot had refused and had later been 'removed from duty' so the pressure on this pilot would have been huge; not least because of the politcial and historical significance of the remembrance ceremony they were going to attend. Diverting to an alternative airfield would have made them hopelessly late for the ceremony and been a potential great embarresment to Polish officials.
We also heard, my wife speaks Russian as well as Polish, that the Russian authorities strongly advised against attempting to land. It is a well known tricky airfield, in hills with forests, and even regulars there would have been unlikely to attempt a landing in the foggy conditions of the day.
In other words it all seems down to an error of judgement due to political and higher ranking pressure on the pilots. If it had gone OK it would have made a great story to boast of but we all know how it turned out. Very sad.