Remains of four individuals found in ongoing Polish-Ukrainian excavations in Volyn
Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory Oleksandr Alfyorov said this in a comment to Ukrinform.
According to Alfyorov, the search efforts have been underway since April 20. The expedition is being carried out by specialists from the Volyn Antiquities research institution and Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance, while the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory oversees the work, with supervision carried out by specialists from the Lviv Regional Council’s municipal enterprise Dolia, which is responsible for locating burial sites of participants in national liberation struggles and victims of wars, deportations, and political repression.
“As of today, no mass grave has been found there. However, the work is ongoing. The Ukrainian side is fully supporting and facilitating it,’ Alfyorov said.
According to him, the expedition has so far identified a burial site containing the remains of four individuals, including two skulls found in different parts of the burial pit.
Search operations in Ostrivky and Volia Ostrovetska will continue into next week. Alfyorov emphasized that Ukraine will continue to fully support the work and, if requested by the Polish side, will grant permission for exhumations.
He noted that in Ukraine, permits for search operations are issued by the Ministry of Culture, while permits for exhumations are now handled by a special commission operating under the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory. Oversight of both search and exhumation work is funded by the Ukrainian side.
As previously reported by Ukrinform, search operations were launched in the Volyn region on the territory of the former villages of Ostrivky and Volia Ostrovetska. The aim is to locate the remains of local residents who tragically died in August 1943.
Deputy Minister of Culture Ivan Verbytskyi said that the first results of the Ukrainian-Polish search efforts in the Volyn region, in the areas of the former villages of Ostrivky and Volia Ostrovetska, are expected this week.
The Polish Institute of National Remembrance noted that this is already the fourth phase of work at the site. The first phase took place in 1992, the second in 2011, and the third in 2015. During previous search and exhumation works, the remains of 674 individuals buried in the local cemetery were uncovered.
The current search operations are set to continue until May 1. They are being conducted in accordance with agreements reached by the Ukrainian-Polish working group on national memory and following understandings between the presidents of both countries. The work is being carried out under appropriate security measures and with professional oversight by Ukrainian experts.
