Volyn tragedy: Poland praises Ukraine's plans to begin exhumation work

That's according to the Polish Foreign Ministry and the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (IPN), Ukrinform reports.

"This is good information and a step in the right direction," Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pawel Wronski said in a comment to PAP. 

He recalled that the Polish side and Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski had repeatedly emphasized in negotiations with Ukrainian partners that Warsaw expects "not plans, but decisions."

"That's why we hope that such a decision will really be made," Wronski said.

The spokesman explained that Sikorski treats this issue "not as a political dispute, but calls on the Ukrainian side to make a gesture that is of a civilizational nature and is a Christian gesture of remembrance towards the victims of the terrible events in Volhynia."

IPN, in turn, reported that they are still waiting for a positive consideration by the Ukrainian authorities of its appeals regarding the beginning of search and exhumation works for the victims of the Volyn tragedy. According to IPN, the decision of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance on plans to conduct searches in the Rivne region next year does not apply to previously submitted applications from the Polish Institute of National Remembrance.

UINR said that this year it began to receive requests from Polish citizens regarding the possibility of conducting a search and exhumation of the remains of their relatives. In particular, a request was received regarding carrying out such works in the Rivne region. Following the consideration of the appeal, which was received in September 2024, the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance intends to include search works in the Rivne region in the plan of activities for 2025.

The subject of the Volyn tragedy is one of the most controversial ones in Ukrainian-Polish relations. The views of Kyiv and Warsaw on the causes, responsibility and number of victims on both sides are somewhat different. Poland insists that the Ukrainian side bears the sole responsibility for the crimes committed in 1943-1945 in Volyn. Ukraine, in turn, emphasizes that both sides are responsible, and the apology should be mutual.

Russian propaganda has actively used the topic of the Volyn tragedy to make the Ukrainian and Polish peoples quarrel.

Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański