In Mostyska, Lviv region, on November 14 the reburial of the remains of Polish soldiers who died in 1939 will take place; they were exhumed in August in Lviv; preparations are also underway for specialists to travel to other locations where search-and-exhumation operations will be conducted.
This was announced by the Ukrainian ambassador to Poland, Vasyl Bodnar.
“In Ukraine, recently two exhumations have been carried out, notably in Puzhnyky (in Ternopil Oblast – ed.), where a burial has already taken place. At the same time, the remains of Polish Army soldiers, which were exhumed in Lviv, will be reburied in Mostyska on November 14. We are now also preparing to organize trips to the next locations for the search-and-exhumation works”
– Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar
He added that a few days ago in Lviv a meeting of the working group responsible for conducting search-and-exhumation works took place; preliminary results were summed up and the next steps in this direction were agreed.
“We also hope for a visit by the head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory Oleksandr Alfiorov to Warsaw and a discussion with Polish officials on the question of further searches and exhumations both on the territory of Ukraine and Poland,” Bodnar noted, adding that the visit could take place by the end of the year.
The ambassador expressed gratitude to the Polish side for the good organization of search operations in the village of Yurechkova in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and expressed hope that this work would be continued.
“Openess, willingness to cooperate and reciprocity in our relations are important to us. Mutual openness allows us to talk about how we, from a political stance on searches and exhumations, have moved to practical work, demonstrated by both sides”
– Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar
The diplomat noted that soon a new co-chair of the Ukrainian group on issues of conducting search-and-exhumation works will be elected, replacing Andriy Nadzhosa, who moved to the MFA.
“Now the main thing is that the pace of work previously agreed upon should not slow down, so that we demonstrate to Ukrainian and Polish societies practical work, openness, and readiness to act from both sides,” Bodnar stressed.
He noted that some political forces “are trying to manipulate this topic, not to show or conceal the real state of affairs.” “In view of this, I sent to the key factions in the Polish parliament basic information about the recent search and exhumation works and what we have achieved,” the ambassador emphasized.
The diplomat expressed readiness to continuously inform Polish legislators about what is happening in Ukrainian-Polish relations in the sphere of search-and-exhumation works. In his view, the real results should also be openly discussed by specialists to convey to Polish society information about the situation in this field.
As reported, in Lviv a joint Ukrainian-Polish expedition to the site of the former cemetery in Zboischach has ended. In the Ternopil region in September, the remains of Poles found during searches in Puzhnyky – the victims of the tragic events in Volyn – were reburied; representatives of Ukrainian and Polish authorities and about 40 descendants of residents of the former village of Puzhnyky attended the event. In the village of Yurechkova in Poland, the stage of searches at the site of a possible burial of UPA fighters has been completed; no burials were found.