Kyiv and Warsaw have exchanged lists of places where the remains of victims of the Volyn tragedy will be searched for for further exhumation.
This was reported by the media outlet Polska Agencja Prasowa, citing Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine for European Integration Andriy Nadzhos.
"We took a very important first step: we exchanged requests. We received requests from the Polish side to carry out work on Ukrainian territory, and the Polish side received requests from us to carry out work in Poland. We are now analyzing these requests and collecting documents in order to make positive decisions with the consent of both parties and publicly comment on the results," said Najos.
He expressed hope that these works “will satisfy Polish and Ukrainian society”. The official added that Ukraine perceives Poland as a very important strategic partner.
"We are aware of what Polish society lives through, just as Polish society understands the needs of Ukrainian society. We understand that issues of historical memory are important for Polish society, and we do not want to politicize it," says the Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine.
Another official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told PAP that Ukraine had given permission to search for remains at the site where Polish graves were discovered in 2023.
The source did not specify the exact location, but in 2023, then-Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki visited Sadove (the former village of Puznyky) in the Ternopil region. There, experts found a mass grave in which the bodies of murdered peasants were buried in 1945. The media source added that permits for search and exhumation in Ukraine will be issued separately for each burial site.
- Recently, it became known that Ukraine has allowed the exhumation of the bodies of Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy. Earlier, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz stated that he would block Ukraineʼs accession to the EU until this historical issue is resolved.
- The permission was confirmed by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha. He emphasized that Ukraine and Poland respect each other and together defend themselves from Russian imperialism.
The Volyn tragedy
In 1943-1944, mass murders of Poles took place in Volyn. The Polish Institute of National Remembrance cites official data of 120 000 Poles killed in Volyn and the southeastern provinces of the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and also mentions 5 000 Ukrainians killed. Ukrainian historians cite other figures: up to 20 000 Ukrainians killed and 35-40 000 Poles killed.
Discussions are also ongoing regarding the perpetrators and organizers of the crime. In Poland, the Volyn tragedy is called a "massacre," officially recognized as "genocide," and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army is blamed, but this interpretation is not shared in Ukraine.
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