Polish-Ukrainian Teams Exhume 50 WWII Victims as Warsaw and Kyiv Seek to Ease UPA Rift
Updated
Updated · CBS New York · Aug 3
Polish-Ukrainian Teams Exhume 50 WWII Victims as Warsaw and Kyiv Seek to Ease UPA Rift
3 articles · Updated · CBS New York · Aug 3
Summary
Joint Polish-Ukrainian archaeologists have recovered remains of more than 50 people from WWII massacre sites in western Ukraine, in exhumations both governments see as a step toward repairing strained ties.
About 30% to 40% of the remains are believed to be children, and experts are collecting DNA and examining bones and artifacts to identify victims and determine age, sex and cause of death.
The graves lie at the center of the Volyn massacre dispute: Poland says the UPA killed about 100,000 Poles in 1943-45, while Ukraine treats the violence as a broader wartime tragedy that also claimed Ukrainian lives.
Tensions worsened this year after Volodymyr Zelenskyy named a military unit after the UPA, prompting Polish President Karol Nawrocki to revoke a top honor, even as Donald Tusk's government pushes de-escalation and a new memorial.