Ukraine will start searching for bodies of UPA soldiers in Poland, while Warsaw wants to study Kherson and Kharkiv

Ukraine will start searching and exhuming the remains of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) fighters in Poland. This was announced by Deputy Minister of Culture Andriy Najos, reports RMF 24.

"The launch is scheduled for September 29. We are talking about approximate dates. The Polish side agreed to start work on September 30," he said .

According to preliminary information based on research by historians, the village of Jurechkowa in Podkarpackie Voivodeship may contain the remains of about 20 UPA soldiers. The Ukrainian side has informed the Polish side of the exact area in the forest they plan to investigate.

"There is an old stone cross on it. This gives us some clues, although it is not known if there is a mass grave there," Najos said .

According to him, the first stage of the work will involve removing the top layer of soil, and may even require cutting down trees, which will require permission from local authorities. Poland has agreed to exhumation work in four locations, but there may actually be more.

Warsaw, in turn, asked Kyiv to conduct search and exhumation work in new regions – Kharkiv and Kherson regions, , reports Ukrinform. Najos said he was surprised in a positive way when the ministry received the request.

"Polish citizens died, among other things, at the hands of the NKVD, the Red Army, and on the territory of these cities. And the fact that they voiced not only Volyn is interesting, because they expand the horizon of thinking. And this is a certain step towards depoliticization, because we are talking not only about Volyn, but they care about every Pole who was tortured, killed by the NKVD, the Soviet army," said the Deputy Minister of Culture .

However, the security situation does not allow us to start work in these regions. However, Najos emphasized that the locations have been fixed.

• on January 11, 2025, the Polish Ministry of Culture reported that Ukraine and Poland handed over to each other lists of places where it is planned to search for and exhume the remains of "victims of mutual historical conflicts".
• On January 13, Ukraine gave permission to exhume the remains of Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy in the Ternopil region. The work began on April 24,.

and ended in early May.

• On June 11, the parties agreed to conduct new search and exhumation works.
• On August 25, the remains of about 40 Polish soldiers of the Second World War and artifacts of that time were exhumed in Lviv