Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced a positive decision regarding the first exhumation of Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy. The politician wrote about this on his page in X.

The head of the Polish government said that the decision taken on the first exhumations of Polish victims during the events of the Volyn tragedy is a “breakthrough”.

" I would like to thank the Ministers of Culture of Poland and Ukraine for the good cooperation. We are waiting for further decisions,” wrote the Polish politician.

The day before, on January 9, the Minister of National Unity of Ukraine Alexey Chernyshev met with the Minister of Culture of Poland Anna Wroblewska. The Polish Ministry of Culture said the ministers discussed “the key role of culture in preserving national identity” and the influence of culture on the socio-economic development of both countries.

The Volyn tragedy (in Polish historiography - “Volyn massacre”) is one of the bloody episodes of the Ukrainian-Polish conflict during the Second World War in Volyn. Polish authorities officially consider this an act of genocide and accuse nationalists from the OUN and combatants from the UPA of committing " At the same time, Ukraine withdraws accusations of genocide and calls the events a mutual interethnic conflict.

The exact number of victims is currently unknown. The official Polish authorities report about 100 thousand. Polish victims and only 5 thousand Ukrainians. At the same time, independent estimates of Polish victims range from 30 to 35 thousand. people (mostly peasants), and the martyrology contains the names of only 18 thousand. Poles.

Estimates of Ukrainian historians regarding the number of victims of the Volyn tragedy differ significantly from the official version of the Polish authorities. Now these estimates range from 16 to 18 thousand Ukrainians and from 35 to 40 thousand on the Polish side.

Earlier it became known that Ukraine and Poland agreed on the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy.

Ukraine lifted the seven-year moratorium on the exhumation of victims of the Volyn tragedy. This was stated by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland Radoslaw Sikorski and Ukraine Andrei Sibiga.

Subsequently, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland announced that the Ukrainian victims of the Volyn tragedy would be honored. According to the Ukrainian diplomat, on the issue of exhumation, Kyiv is working not only with Warsaw, but also with the Organization of Ukrainians in Poland.