Poland clarifies when exhumation of victims of Volyn tragedy can begin

The exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy may begin in Ukraine within a day. Poland is currently awaiting official confirmation of this information.

Such a statement was made by the head of the Institute of National Remembrance of the Republic, Karol Nawrocki. His words are reported by RMF24.

"The Bureau of Search and Identification of the INP is ready to conduct a real search in Volyn within 24 hours. Therefore, we are waiting for official confirmation of this information," he said.

He also reminded that since 2017, his Institute had sent Ukraine requests for search and exhumation work in the Volyn region. The request concerned a number of settlements.

"Between 2017 and 2024, we sent nine such requests. None of these requests were accepted by the Ukrainian side," he assured.

According to the head of the Institute of National Memory, if the statements of Ukrainian politicians are not just political declarations, he expects an official confirmation and response to the request. In this case, the Institute will send both people and equipment to Volyn region.

Navrotsky assured that Russia's war against Ukraine will not affect the efficiency of the work.

Details

The Volyn tragedy occurred in 1943, when the Polish Home Army and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army organized, according to Ukrainian researchers, mutual ethnic cleansing of Poles and Ukrainians. As a result, more than 100,000 Poles and 40,000 Ukrainians died in the region. Witnesses to those events noted the brutal methods of reprisals on both sides.

On July 24, 2024, Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said that Warsaw would not be able to agree to Ukraine's accession to the EU until the countries resolve the disputes over the events in Volyn during World War II.

On September 19, it was reported that the Polish Foreign Ministry allegedly plans to use Ukraine's European integration aspirations as a tool to put pressure on Kyiv in the coming months. In particular, in the matter of exhumations of victims of the Volyn tragedy.

On September 24, Polish President Andrzej Duda criticized Kosiniak-Kamysh's statement and noted that such phrases "are part of Putin's policy."

Later, Duda also said that a breakthrough should take place in the "problematic" historical issues of relations between Poland and Ukraine, but not as a result of "unceremonious blackmail."

On October 1, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said that Ukraine is ready to discuss with its Polish counterparts the controversial issues of common history.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland Wladyslaw Teofil Bartoszewski said that as part of the first chapter of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union, Poland would raise the issue of exhuming Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy.

On November 26, Ukraine confirmed that there are no obstacles to the search and exhumation of the bodies of the victims of the Volyn tragedy on our territory. This was announced by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski after a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiga.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, in early November, Radoslaw Sikorski stated that there has been no progress in the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy. According to him, the Ukrainian government at that time did not fulfill its promises in a timely manner.

Earlier, Poland said that Ukraine's accession to the European Union was not a "matter of survival" and warned that it would set its own conditions. This included the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy.

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