The exhumation of Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy will commence in April near the former village of Puzhnyky in Ukraine’s Ternopil Oblast, RMF FM reported on 13 January.
The Volyn tragedy occurred in 1943 during Nazi occupation, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of Poles by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), with thousands of Ukrainians killed in retaliatory actions.
“There is a decision on the first exhumations of Polish UPA victims. I thank the ministers of culture of Poland and Ukraine for good cooperation. We await further decisions,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
The breakthrough comes after Ukraine lifted its moratorium on search and exhumation work that had been in place since 2017. The decision was announced in November 2024 during a joint press conference by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha.
The work will focus on identifying remains found in layered graves near a former cemetery, according to Maciej Dancewicz, deputy head of the Freedom and Democracy Foundation.
“Genetic material is already being collected from descendants. At the site where the remains are located, this material will also be collected in a professional manner,” Dancewicz told RMF FM.
After the examinations, authorities plan to rebury the victims and commemorate the site.
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