Drobovych: UINR is "inclined to decision" to search for remains of Volyn tragedy victims in 2025
This year, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance (UINR) began receiving requests from Polish citizens for the possibility of searching for and exhuming the remains of their family members. In particular, a request was received to conduct such work in the Rivne region.
According to Censor.NET, this is stated in the report of the UINR.
It is noted that following consideration of the request, which was received in September 2024, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance intends to include search work in the Rivne region in the plan of work and activities for 2025.
"The UINR remains open to cooperation with Polish institutions in the field of searching for, preserving, and caring for the places of memory of Ukrainians in Poland and Poles in Ukraine," comments Anton Drobovych, head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance.
"However, given that official inter-institutional mechanisms for resolving problematic issues with the Polish side in the restoration and preservation of memory sites have not been in place for a long time (in particular, working groups between memory institutions and ministries responsible for cultural issues), the UINR is inclined to meet the interests of Polish citizens and, on an exceptional basis, directly assume the role of coordinator in conducting search operations at the request of Polish citizens with the invitation of the Polish side as observers. Therefore, if Polish citizens provide us with the necessary clarifications on the localization of potential search sites, we will try to help them despite the war and the difficult economic situation," Drobovych adds.
As noted, in the implementation of this decision, the Institute will cooperate with the State Interagency Commission for the Perpetuation of the Memory of Participants of the Anti-Terrorist Operation, Victims of War and Political Repression and the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine, whose powers include issuing permits for search operations, exhumations and the arrangement of monuments, memorials, memorials, as well as with specialized organizations that have the right to carry out such work in Ukraine.
Given the limited number of specialists and the continuation of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, which is accompanied by search and exhumation of dead military and civilians, the efficiency of the search operations will also depend on available resources.
What preceded this?
Earlier, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Władysław Teofil Bartoszewski said that Warsaw would raise the issue of exhumations of Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy in the first chapter of negotiations on Ukraine's membership in the European Union.
Later, during a visit to Warsaw on October 1, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Ukraine was ready to discuss controversial issues of common history with Poland, including the Volyn tragedy of 1943-1944.
