Next phase of joint search and exhumation efforts to take place in Poland – Ambassador Bodnar

This was stated by Ukraine’s Ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar, in a comment to Ukrinform.

The Ambassador recalled that the Ukrainian-Polish team completed exhumation work in Puzhnyky, where the remains of at least 42 individuals were discovered. DNA analysis will now be conducted, followed by burial at an old Polish cemetery. The goal is to restore and dignify the burial site, creating a proper memorial space for families of the deceased to visit.

“It is very important to show the societies of both countries that we have not only conducted exhumations, but also provided burial and installed crosses at the graves,” Bodnar emphasized.

He noted that two days ago, a meeting was held in Warsaw between Ukraine’s Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Mykola Tochytskyi and Poland’s Minister of Culture and National Heritage Hanna Wróblewska. According to Bodnar, several more permits for search and exhumation work have been prepared, and new locations will be announced soon.

“We want the next phase of the joint efforts to take place at one of the sites on the territory of Poland,” Bodnar stated.

As Ukrinform previously reported, exhumation work in Puzhnyky began on April 24. Ukrainian and Polish experts were involved. On the Ukrainian side, the effort was led by the specialized institution ‘Volyn Antiquities’, headed by Alina Kharlamova. The Polish side was represented by researchers from the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, the ‘Freedom and Democracy’ Foundation, and the Institute of National Remembrance of the Republic of Poland.

Negotiations between Ukraine and Poland over exhumation work have been ongoing since last year. At the end of November 2024, during a joint press conference between the foreign ministers of Poland and Ukraine, Radosław Sikorski and Andrii Sybiha, it was confirmed that the moratorium on search and exhumation of Polish citizens buried in Ukraine, which had been in effect since 2017, was no longer in force.

On January 8, 2025, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications granted permission for exhumation in Puzhnyky.

DNA testing of the remains found during the exhumation in Puzhnyky will be conducted in Poland, with Ukrainian scientists invited to participate.