Exhumation of the victims of the 1943 tragedy will resume in Volyn
Starting on July 13, a new phase of exhumation work will begin in the former villages of Ostrivky and Volya Ostrovetska in the Volyn Oblast. The work will be conducted to locate, identify, and subsequently reburial the remains of local residents who died during the tragic events of August 1943.
The work will continue until August 7.
The exhumation work will be carried out by the specialized institution “Volyn Antiquities” with the participation of staff from the Institute of National Remembrance of the Republic of Poland and the Medical University of Wrocław.
To ensure professional supervision (consultative support), the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, following the results of a tender, is engaging search specialists from the Lviv Regional Council’s municipal enterprise “Dolia.”
The investigations will be conducted in accordance with the agreements reached following the work of the Ukrainian-Polish Working Group on National Memory.
It is emphasized that “shared memory and a willingness to reach mutual understanding bring our peoples closer together in the name of common values based on Christian tradition, respect for human rights, good neighborliness in Europe, and resistance to Russian imperialism.”
The institute notes that search operations were already conducted from April 20 to 30 of this year in the areas of the former villages of Ostrivky and Volia Ostrovetska. At that time, the following locations were covered: “Volia Ostrovetska 1,” “Volia Ostrovetska 2,” “Volia Ostrovetska 3,” “Stodola,” “Trupne Pole,” “Ostrivky 1,” “Ostrivky 2,” “Shkola,” and “Kuznia.” Based on the results of the investigations at the “Volia Ostrovetska 1,” “Ostrivky 1,” and “School” sites, signs of burial sites and human remains were discovered. Nothing of this nature was found at the other sites.
The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance reported this on Facebook.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski announced closed-door consultations with Ukraine regarding the possible renaming of one of the Special Operations Forces (SSO) units to “Heroes of the UPA.” According to him, this issue is being discussed through diplomatic channels.
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