After Ukraine gained independence, the issue of the Volyn tragedy has repeatedly become a subject of discussion between Warsaw and Kyiv.
In Poland, it is called a “massacre” and officially recognized as genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists against Poles. Ukraine interprets these events as a tragic conflict with mass casualties among both peoples, connected with the struggle of Ukrainians for national self-determination.
Both countries tried to find common ground, and the presidents of independent Ukraine — from Leonid Kuchma to Volodymyr Zelensky — officially honoured the memory of the victims of the Volyn tragedy and apologized to the people of Poland.
Oleksandr Kwasniewski and Leonid Kuchma met in Volyn on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Volyn tragedy, on July 11, 2003. Petro Poroshenko, together with the Ukrainian delegation, laid flowers at the monument to the victims of the Volyn tragedy in Warsaw, July 8, 2016. Volodymyr Zelensky and Andrzej Duda participated in a funeral mass at the Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Lutsk, July 9, 2023.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
In July 2016, the Polish Sejm recognized the Volyn tragedy as genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists from OUN UPA. It established July 11 as the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of this Genocide.
In 2025, then-President of Poland Andrzej Duda signed a law designating this day as the official Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Tragedy. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry criticized this decision, calling it "contrary to the spirit of good-neighborly relations between Ukraine and Poland".
The topic of the Volyn tragedy remains sensitive for both countries. The historian and newly elected President of Poland Karol Nawrocki actively raised this issue.
During the election campaign, he used the topic of the Volyn tragedy to mobilize his voters. And after the victory, he declared that he would block Ukraineʼs European integration until Kyiv makes an official statement about "atonement" for the "Volyn massacre".
Russian propaganda exploits historical events to undermine Polish-Ukrainian relations.
The moratorium on search and exhumation of bodies of Poles has been in place since 2017.
This was the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembranceʼs response to the destruction of Ukrainian monuments to the UPA soldiers in Poland during 2015-2017. And although Volodymyr Zelensky lifted this ban after the start of his presidential term, the situation only changed after the start of the full-scale invasion.
A breakthrough in this topic is considered to be the spring of 2025. From April to May, the exhumation of the bodies of local residents who died in 1945 took place on the territory of the former village cemetery of the village of Sadove (Puzhnyky), in the Ternopil region. Teams from both countries worked. Each financed its expedition separately.
How the excavations took place. Archaeologist Alina Kharlamova, who led the exhumation process in Puzhnyky, tells the story.
We worked from April 24 to May 5. Everything went smoothly, without any disputes. In total, there were about thirty of us on both sides: forensic experts, anthropologists, archaeologists.
The process was monitored by the police. There were also journalists, but we tried not to let them near the excavation for security reasons, we were afraid of pro-Russian provocations.
We conducted reconnaissance work back in 2023. We dug small trenches to check for bones, and found them, but bureaucratic issues delayed the process. It was only in the spring that we began to exhume these remains.
First, the trees were cut down, then the topsoil was removed to see the contours of the burial pit. In archaeology, old burials can be seen by changes in the color and structure of the soil — where the pit once was, the soil looks different. Archaeologists remove the topsoil and level it to determine the boundaries of the pit.
The exhumation process in Puzhnyky (Ternopil region). Researchers clean the remains found, conduct anthropological and medical analyses, and perform 3D scanning, May 7, 2025.
Ministry of Culture and Art of the Third Polish Republic
After that, the clearing of the remains began. The bones were carefully removed layer by layer, their position recorded, all the finds nearby were photographed and recorded. Then they were handed over to anthropologists for examination, they had their own tent camp there.
The Polish side also took DNA samples to conduct an examination later. They have their own laboratory in the city of Szczecin.
We found the remains of at least 42 people in the burial pit. At least, because the roots of large trees growing in the pit affected some of the skeletons, and not all of the remains were recorded in the form in which they were found.
Of these 42 people, 32 were adults and 10 were children. Bullet marks were found in seven adults. We also found eight bullets at the site — four from a pistol and four from a rifle, as well as one cartridge case from an Austrian Mannlicher rifle from 1940. Among the small finds were two Soviet coins — 20 kopecks from 1936 and 10 kopecks from the early 1930s.
Personal belongings were also found: rosary beads, four Catholic medallions, one Orthodox medallion with the image of the Pochaiv Mother of God, three pairs of earrings (two silver and one made of a fruit stone), buttons, and the remains of shoes.
During the search, fragments of buttons, medallions, and rosaries were found.
Ministry of Culture and Art of the Third Polish Republic
We found out that these burials were carried out in stages, which is quite logical: it would have been physically impossible to transport all 42 bodies at once. Some of the remains were brought in carts and initially buried in homemade coffins or wooden boxes.
The rest of the bodies were brought in several times, placing them in the pit from different sides: on one side with their heads in one direction, on the other — with their heads in the opposite direction. When it became clear that the pit was full, supporting walls were added to accommodate all the bones.
Therefore, the bones lay quite tightly.
Ukraine and Poland were in a deadlock for 10 years, but they finally broke it. The Deputy Minister of Culture Andrii Nadzhos tells the story.
We have broken the pause that has lasted since 2015. Two stages of [exhumation] work have already taken place — in the Ternopil region (Puzhnyky) and in Lviv.
Before that, for many years everyone was afraid to move forward, because it seemed that any permission for search work could turn into a political weapon for the other side.
There is no feeling now that Poland can block Ukraineʼs accession to the EU because of the "Volyn issue". Yes, this topic has been a hot topic in Polish domestic politics for a long time — politicians played on it, and this ultimately led to Karol Nawrocki becoming the newly elected president.
Society and politicians need time to cool down. This cannot be resolved in a few months. In communication with our diplomats, there are no signals that Poland [is making of it] a threat to the European integration process.
There are other countries that create more obstacles on Ukraineʼs path to the EU.
Newly elected President of Poland Karol Nawrocki near the monument to the Volyn tragedy, May 30, 2025.
X (Twitter) / «Бабель»
We have a bilateral Ukrainian-Polish working group. Three people from each country. Currently, there is an application from Poland on the table to carry out work in thirteen places on the territory of Ukraine — we have already processed two of them.
The Poles have an application from Ukraine to carry out work in four places. The first will begin on September 30. The Ukrainian expedition will go to the village of Yurechkovo (this is the Przemysl district) to exhume the bodies of the OUN UPA soldiers.
We are not going to stop, I assure you as the head of the Ukrainian part of the group. Russian propaganda says that we are blocking the process. For example, a week before the presidential elections in Poland, a forged letter from the former Minister of Culture Mykola Tochytskyi was sent, stating that Ukraine had stopped the exhumations.
It was quickly distributed in the information space. But we reacted instantly — within a few hours, we issued a joint statement from the two ministries, where they denied it.
Polish-Ukrainian relations are constantly fluctuating, but overall they are changing for the better. Polish historian Lukasz Adamski tells the story.
If Ukraine and Poland had started exhumations and reburials earlier, say in 2022, cooperation would have been much easier. Russian disinformation would not have had such a strong influence on public opinion in Poland.
They [Russians] understand that Poles will not side with them, because Polish nationalists are mostly anti-Russian. But they are also often Ukraine-skeptical — they believe that Poland has helped Ukraine a lot and received little in return.
Polish society perceives these issues through the prism of internal political conflicts. The conflict is between supporters of the ruling Law and Justice (PIS) party, the opposition, and nationalist groups such as the Confederation.
The latter often use Ukrainian issues to attract voters. This was evident even during discussions about limiting social benefits for Ukrainians. Some politicians demand a change in Ukrainian memory policy, in particular regarding Bandera and the activities of OUN UPA.
All this negatively affects the attitude of Poles towards Ukrainians.
Reburial ceremony of remains found during search operations with the participation of representatives of the Ukrainian and Polish authorities and descendants of residents of the former village of Puzhnyky, September 6, 2025.
Ministry of Culture and Art of the Third Polish Republic
Although the exhumations have a positive effect, other factors have worsened relations between Ukraine and Poland. Polish-Ukrainian relations are a curve that constantly changes direction — sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes down.
But still it is moving towards improvement.