A new stage of exhumation research will begin on July 13 on the territory of the former villages of Ostrivky and Volya Ostrovetska in the Kovel district of the Volyn region.
This was reported by the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance.
Specialists will search for the remains of local residents who died in August 1943, in order to rebury them later. The work will continue until August 7, 2026.
The exhumation will be conducted by the organization "Volyn Antiquities" with the participation of Polish specialists: employees of the Institute of National Remembrance of Poland and the Medical University of Wroclaw.
This is a continuation of the search work that began in the spring, when human remains were found and burial sites were confirmed at three of the nine surveyed sites.
Relations between Poland and Ukraine in the context of exhumations
After Ukraine gained independence, the issue of the Volyn tragedy was repeatedly raised by politicians in both countries. Ukraine and Poland held joint events to honor the victims and tried to find points of understanding. However, after Poland recognized the Volyn tragedy as genocide in 2016, discussions intensified.
In response to the destruction of Ukrainian monuments in Poland, Ukraine imposed a moratorium on the exhumation of Polish graves. Despite agreements in 2020 and 2022 on cooperation in the field of historical memory, the issue remained unresolved.
In 2023, Ukraine allowed joint research of the burials in Puzhnyky, but Poland has still not fulfilled Kyivʼs request to restore the memorial plaque on the grave of UPA soldiers on Monastyr Mountain.
In January 2025, Ukraine allowed the exhumation of the bodies of Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy for the first time. And in May, the exhumation of the victims of 1945 was completed in the Ternopil region — in Poland it was called a breakthrough.
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