Ukraine did not gotta halt the exhumation in Puźniki

fakenews.pl 2 weeks ago

In the early days of June, social media appeared information on the alleged halting of the exhumation by Ukraine in Puźniki, where the graves of victims of the Volyn massacre are located. The evidence was to be a letter from the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and strategical Communication and a video of Prof. Andrzej Ossowski, head of the exhumation team, on which it confirms the authenticity of the letter. In fact, the handwriting wasn't real, and the video that shows the prof. was... deepfake. Polish and Ukrainian authorities rapidly denied false information.

Thesis:

Ukraine ordered the exhumation of victims of the Volyn massacre in Puźniki.

Our evaluation:

False

More about our evaluation system:

Source of disinformation about suspension of exhumation in Puźniki

Disinformation was first published on June 6 on a fake profile on Facebook impersonating prof. Andrzej Ossowski from the Pomeranian Medical University, head of the exhumation team. In addition to the photograph of the paper on the fake profile, there was besides a video on which prof. Ossowski was to say:

Everything is happening precisely as I said – after Poland approved the Day of Memory of Victims of Genocide in Volyn on 11 July, Ukraine became loud. As a result, Ukraine suspended all historical Polish-Ukrainian projects. Everything we've been doing for six years has been ineffective. My colleague Alina Charlamova of the Volynsk Foundation of Antiquity gave me the order of the Ukrainian government to suspend all archaeological work in Ukraine. I will attach a photograph of the paper below.

The next day, information spread on social media. The prepared letter was made available on X among othersMember of the Law and Justice Dariusz Matecki, writing:

The Ukrainians have not launched any fresh exhumations recently. The question to @MSZ_RP, did they just suspend the erstwhile one, due to the fact that as MPs, we almost unanimously adopted the Volyn genocide bill? Will you do the right thing? Will you proceed to give Ukrainians spit on Poles?

On Darius Matecki's post removed answered Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasil Bodnar:

Dear Mr @Dariusz Matecki, this is an absolute Facebook. There'll be communication with Kiev soon. Ukraine is determined to proceed its search and exhumation work! No provocation will disturb our common good will.

Other politicians besides referred to the case, among others. Paul Blacksmith, associate of the Civic Coalition, and Michael Dworczyk, MP of Law and Justice. Both published warnings on “Russian” misinformation.

Under Michał Dworczyk, there was a comment by Matecki, who removed his earlier post containing disinformation. He wrote:

I've reached prof. Ossowski. It's fat. As you can see, in 2024 a fictional Facebook profile was put on his data and a movie was reworked in which AI talks about this paper with his mouth. I'm reporting the case to the Facebook administration. And that's what Homeland should do!

Declaration prof. Ossowski, whose image was utilized to make misinformation, besides published. He denied the authenticity of the video and the impersonating Facebook page.

They besides wrote about the case among others. Content24 and Demagog.

Ukraine did not gotta halt the exhumation in Puźniki

On 7 June, the Minister of Culture and strategical Communication of Ukraine, Mykola Toczycki, whose signature was on a prepared letter, demented Its authenticity. On X profile he wrote:

I did not sign any paper concerning the alleged cessation of work in the village of Sadowe (former Pużniki) in the Tarnopolski region. The Polish side described this process as a historical and diplomatic breakthrough.

He besides stressed that disinformation is aimed at spreading "harmful propaganda".

The Polish authorities besides denied false information. On 7 June, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage published statement dementing information on alleged suspension of exploration and exhumation permits:

Disinformation entries appearing on social media, utilizing the image of Prof. Andrzej Ossowski, as well as false papers posing as writing issued by the Ukrainian side, were reported to the competent services.

The case was besides referred to by the Prime Minister's Office, publishing The movie on X. False reports were described as lying and fake news.

Disinformation mechanism

Disinformation was built on 3 main elements:

A false paper allegedly originating in UkraineMinistry of Culture and strategical Communication signed by Minister Mikola Toczycki;
The prepared profile of Prof. Andrzej Ossowski on Facebook;
Deepfake technology – video recording utilizing the image of Prof. Ossowski, created utilizing artificial intelligence.

An additional strengthening of the message was the usage of authority, in this case Prof. Andrzej Ossowski – a respected geneticist, forensicist and forensic anthropologist, leading the works of the exhumation team. It wasn't random to choose him.

Policy context

4 June 2025 Polish Sejm passed Act on the Establishment of 11 July National Day of Memory on Poles – Victims of Genocide made by the CNS and UPA. In response, the Ukrainian MFA published statement concerning legislation, calling it “contrary to the spirit of good neighbourly relations”. The message besides stated:

Once again we remind that Poles should not search enemies among Ukrainians, but Ukrainians among Poles. We have a common enemy, Russia.

Both disinformation and its political context are part of Russia's strategical interests. Russian disinformation systematically takes action to destabilise Polish-Ukrainian relations. Therefore, he uses, among others, instrumentalization and manipulation of historical resentiments. The aim is not only to weaken the relations between Poland and Ukraine, but besides to destruct Ukraine's image among its allies.

Summary

Information about Ukraine's alleged halting of the exhumation of victims of the Volyn massacre in Puźniki is false. A fabricated paper and a video generated by artificial intelligence were utilized to disinformation. The Polish and Ukrainian authorities rapidly denied false information. The approvals for search and exhumation work on the side of Ukraine were not suspended.