The Polish-Ukrainian dispute about memory present boils down to 1 hard issue: a worthy burial of Poles murdered in 1943–1945 by the CNS and UPA. After 7 years of Ukrainian exhumation blockade, the breakthrough took place at the turn of 2024 and 2025, with the start of work in Puźniki in the spring of 2025 and the first worthy burial of the victims in September. However, this is only the beginning, not the closure of the case, due to the fact that the Ukrainian side inactive agreed to only part of Polish applications.
What's truly going on?
The relations between Poland and Ukraine are complicated by 1 uncounted chapter of history: Volynsk crime. In Polish memory it is genocide — a planned, ideologically motivated extermination of the Polish population in the east Borders of the Second Republic. In Ukrainian's dominant narrative, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (CNS) and Ukrainian Pows dancing Army (UPA) are worshiped as formations of the conflict for independence. This difference in judgement is not an academic dispute — it translates straight into politics, diplomacy, and regular relations between nations.
The core of the dispute over the years remained a seemingly simple and morally fundamental thing: the right to find the remains of the murdered and to bury them in a Christian way. For Polish families and institutions, the deficiency of consent for exhumations was an open wound — a refusal of simple dignity for victims. That is why it is simply a question of exhumation, alternatively than historical assessments themselves, that has become a test in fresh years whether reconciliation is real or simply declared.
What was the Volyn crime and how many victims?
Volynsk crime is an anti-Polish cultural cleansing conducted by Ukrainian nationalists, having, according to the position of Polish institutions, the character of genocide. Its symbolic climax was the alleged bloody Sunday on 11 July 1943, erstwhile UPA troops attacked respective twelve Polish towns in Volyn.
According to careful estimates of Polish researchers in 1943–1945 in Wołyń and east Małopolska, 80 to 120 1000 Poles were murdered, most frequently talking about the number of about 100 1000 victims. A precise determination of the number of dead is not possible. The Volyn crime victims database conducted by the Institute of National Memory present contains over 43 1000 personally documented entries, which shows how many murdered to this day do not even have a grave or a name.
| Period | 1942/1943 – half 1945 |
| Total number of victims | approx. 80–120,000 Poles (most often: ~100 thousand) |
| Volyn | approx. 40–60,000. |
| Eastern Gaul | approx. 30–40 thousand. |
| The Lands of Today's Poland | at least 4,000. |
| A Symbolic Mount of Murders | July 11, 1943 ("blood Sunday") |
| IPN victim database | over 43 000 entries |
The perpetrators were members of the OUN (bander faction) and UPA, and the goal, as Polish historians indicate, was to physically destruct the Polish population in areas that nationalists considered exclusively Ukrainian.
Why did the exhumations become an inflammatory point?
After 2014, and especially after tightening up disputes over memory policy, the Ukrainian side introduced a real blockade. Since 2017, there has been a moratorium on the search and exhumation of the remains of Polish victims in the territory of Ukraine, introduced by the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory after dismantling the illegal UPA monument in Hruszowice, Poland. The formal pretext was disputes about destroyed Ukrainian commemorations in Poland, but the effect was clear: for over 7 years Polish families could not find and bury their relatives.
This blockade was hard for the Polish public to accept precisely due to the fact that it afraid not political assessments, but the right to a grave. It is hard to talk of partnership and a common future erstwhile 1 organization refuses to let another to bury the murdered, which was repeated by politicians of various camps, historians and representatives of the Church.
What was the breakthrough on the exhumation case?
The breakthrough occurred at the turn of 2024 and 2025. At the end of November 2024, the Heads of Diplomacy of Poland and Ukraine, Radosław Sikorski and Andrij Sybiha, announced the abolition of the blockade in force since 2017; Ukraine has confirmed that there are no obstacles to working in its territory. In January 2025 the Prime Minister announced the first exhumations of Polish victims of UPA, and the approval of circumstantial works was issued by Ukrainian institutions.
The first place became Puźniki — a erstwhile Polish village in the Tarnopolski region (Eastern Galicia), whose Polish population was attacked on the night of 12 to 13 February 1945. Search and exhumation work was carried out from April 23 to May 10, 2025; it was carried out by a joint Polish-Ukrainian squad of archaeologists, anthropologists and geneticists — with the participation of specialists from the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin and Ukrainian archaeologists, under the supervision of IPN and the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The organization organizing works from the Polish side was the Freedom and Democracy Foundation.
In September 2025, a ceremony ceremony was held in Puźniki — the first specified common burial of victims of the Volyn crime in Ukraine after the blockade had been lifted. The remains of 43 people were laid to the grave (at the time of the exhumation work, at least 42 victims were mentioned; the final number was determined by anthropological studies). Witness accounts indicated that the number of murdered persons may have been higher (there were even respective twelve more victims in the second grave), but another collective grave in this phase of work was not found.
Breakthrough Calendar
| 2017 | Introduction of Ukrainian Exhumation Block |
| End of November 2024 | Agreement to abolish the blockade (Sikorski-Sybiha) |
| January 2025 | The announcement of the first exhumation; Ukrainian party's consent to Puźniki |
| April 23 – May 10, 2025 | Search and Exhumation Works in Puźniki |
| September 2025 | A Decent Bury of the Victims in Puffers — 43 Buried |
Does a breakthrough mean a solution?
Nope. Cannons are important, but a single step. Following the abolition of the IPN block, he submitted a full list of requests for search and exhumation in subsequent towns. The Ukrainian side only agreed to any of them, according to the data disclosed, that only a fewer of respective twelve Polish applications were accepted at the first stage. This shows that the process remains limited and dependent on Kiev's current political will.
A durable solution would require a permanent strategy mechanism: consent to all documented burial sites, freedom of work for Polish teams and safety and marking of found graves. As long as each exhumation requires separate approval and negotiation, the case remains open and the families of the victims are dependent on the political situation.
Bandery’s cult and Polish memory — the dispute inactive alive
The second layer of the dispute is the Ukrainian memory policy towards the CNS and UPA. For years there have been monuments, plaques and street names in western Ukraine commemorating Stepan Bandera and Roman Szuchewycz. In Lviv, Bandera's monument was unveiled in 2007 and its name bears 1 of the streets; after 2022 the commemorations of both leaders besides appeared in regions earlier with this tradition little connected.
However, the scale of the phenomenon must be given fairly. Opinion polls show that the attitude towards Bandera is highly regionally diverse in Ukraine: the percent of affirmative reviews in the country is lower than negative, but in Galicia the support is very high. For many Ukrainians, this cult is part of building their own national identity and cutting themselves off from the Russian narrative—which does not change the fact that for Poles the glorification of the formations liable for genocide remains unacceptable.
These tensions erupt periodically on the occasion of symbolic decisions — giving to individuals or institutions of patrons referring to UPA. all time this happens in Poland, it is hard to reconcile declarations of reconciliation with honouring perpetrators.
What is the position of Polish institutions?
The Polish position on this issue is consistent over divisions. Key benchmarks are:
- Resolution of the Sejm of July 22, 2016 — The Sejm recognized the Volyn crime as genocide and established on 11 July the National Day of Memory of the Victims of Genocide made by Ukrainian nationalists on the citizens of the Second Republic. The resolution was adopted by 432 votes to none, with 10 abstentions.
- Act dated June 4, 2025 — The Sejm raised the commemoration from the rank of a resolution to the rank of the bill, establishing on 11 July the National Day of Memory of Poles — Victims of Genocide made by the CNS and UPA on the east lands of the Second Republic. The bill was adopted by 435 votes, with no objection, with 1 abstention; it entered into force on 5 July 2025.
- Institute of National Memory — through the Office of Search and recognition (with the Kresowy Division) he runs a victim base, documentation and — after lifting the blockade — search and exhumation in Ukraine.
The consistent usage of the word "genocide" is not in the Polish rhetorical position, but a precise assessment of the nature of the crime — planned, mass and directed against the population due to its nationality.
What are the conditions for actual reconciliation?
Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation is possible and needed — Poland and Ukraine present have a common opponent in Russian imperialism. However, it cannot mean silence of fact or "symmetry" of victims and perpetrators. Real reconciliation must be based on respective conditions:
1. Full access to exhumation — consent to all documented burial sites, not only to selected requests.
2. Historical Truth — designation by the Ukrainian side of the genocidal nature of the CNS-UPA crime.
3. Resignation of glorification of perpetrators — reconciliation is hard to reconcile with the cult of execution groups.
4. Decentness of victims — marking, securing and commemorating Polish graves in Ukraine.
5. Mutuality and respect — the care of both sides about the memorial sites of the another nation.
The regiments showed that cooperation is possible erstwhile there is political will. However, the real test will be whether the first burial will be the beginning of a systematic process or a one-time gesture. The memory of victims is not an obstacle to good relationships — a condition for them. Without fact and without graves there is no reconciliation, there is only his appearance.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people died in the Volyn massacre?
According to careful estimates of Polish researchers in 1943–1945 in Volyn and in east Galicia 80 to 120 1000 Poles were murdered, most frequently the number of about 100 thousand. A precise determination of the number of victims is not possible; the IPN database contains more than 43 1000 registered entries.
Why did Ukraine block the exhumation of Polish victims?
Since 2017, the Ukrainian moratorium on the search and exhumation of the remains of Polish victims, introduced by the Ukrainian IPN after the dismantling of the UPA monument in Hruszowice. They were formally linked to disputes about destroyed Ukrainian commemorations in Poland. The blockade was abolished by an agreement of late November 2024.
Where and erstwhile did the first exhumations take place after the blockade was lifted?
In the erstwhile Polish village of Puźniki in the Tarnopolski region. Search and exhumation works were carried out from April 23 to May 10, 2025, and in September 2025 a worthy ceremony was held, during which the remains of 43 people were buried.
Did the Sejm consider the Volyn crime genocide?
Yeah. By its resolution of July 22, 2016, the Sejm considered the Volyn crime a genocide and established the National Memorial Day on July 11. In 2025 (Law of June 4th), the commemoration was elevated to the rank of the bill.
Does the breakthrough in Puźniki end the exhumation dispute?
Nope. Cannons are a single case. The IPN made many applications for further towns, but the Ukrainian side only agreed to any of them. The process remains limited and dependent on Kiev's current political will.
What are the conditions for actual Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation?
Full access to all documented burial sites, designation by Ukraine of the genocidal nature of the CNS-UPA crimes, resignation of glorification of perpetrators and dignified marking and securing of Polish graves. Reconciliation must be based on truth, not on silence.
Sources
- Institute of National Memory — Wolynska Crime, ceremony in Puźniki and 11 July (ipn.gov.pl, krybawolynska.pl)
- Polish Parliament / ISAP — Resolution of 22 July 2016 (M.P. 2016 item 726) and Act of 4 June 2025 (Journal of Laws 2025 item 891)
- Freedom and Democracy Foundation — explosions in Puźniki (wid.org.pl)
- Polish Press Agency (PAP) — ceremony of victims of Volynsk crime in Puźniki, September 2025; agreement of the Ministry of abroad Affairs on exhumation, November 2024
- TVN24, Interia, dziewie.pl — coverage of the breakthrough on the 2024–2025 exhumation and votes in the Sejm
- Wikipedia - Stepan Bandery Monument in Lviv (discovery 2007)
