Exhumation of victims of Volyn tragedy: first human remains found in Ternopil region
The exhumation of the remains of Poles who died during the Volyn tragedy has recently begun on the territory of the former village of Puzhnyky in the Ternopil region. Experts have already found the first human remains.
This was reported by Deputy Minister of Culture for European Integration Andrii Nadzhos in a commentary to journalists, Censor.NET reports.
"A joint expedition from both the Polish and Ukrainian sides is at the site, so at the end of this day we should receive the next report. Again, we are talking about the first remains found, but of course, this is a question for experts who have to establish who they belonged to, what was the cause of death of these people, when they died, there are really a lot of questions," he said.
Last week, search and exhumation work began at the old cemetery of the now defunct village of Puzhnyky in Ternopil region. The excavations are being carried out by forensic doctors, archaeologists, geneticists and anthropologists.
Questions about the exhumation of victims of the Volyn tragedy
As reported, in September 2024, the Polish Foreign Ministry said that without resolving the issue of exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy, Ukraine cannot dream of joining the EU.At the same time, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that attempts to block Ukraine's accession to the European Union play into the hands of Vladimir Putin's policy.
During his visit to Warsaw on October 1, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Ukraine is ready to discuss controversial issues of common history with Poland, including the Volyn tragedy of 1943-1944.
On October 2, the UINP stated that they plan to conduct search operations for the victims of the Volyn tragedy in 2025. The Institute also stated that it remained open to cooperation with Polish institutions in the field of searching, preserving and caring for the places of memory of Ukrainians in Poland and Poles in Ukraine, and complained that official inter-institutional mechanisms for resolving problematic issues with the Polish side in the restoration and preservation of places of memory had not been in place for a long time.
On October 4 , the Polish Minister of Defense confirmed his intention to block Ukraine's accession to the EU until the issue of exhumation and commemoration of the victims of the Volyn tragedy is resolved.
On November 26, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, after speaking with his Ukrainian counterpart Andriy Sybiga, said that Kyiv had assured him that there were no obstacles to searching for and exhuming the victims of the Volyn tragedy in Ukraine.
In January 2025, Ukraine and Poland exchanged lists of places to search for and exhume the remains of mutual historical conflicts.
Subsequently, Ukraine granted permission to exhume the victims of the Volyn tragedy in the Ternopil region.
In April 2025 , Ukraine agreed to conduct search operations for Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy in the village of Uhly, Rivne region.
