In Lviv, a joint Ukrainian-Polish expedition is completing search and exhumation works during which a mass grave containing the remains of about 40 victims of the Second World War was discovered.
This was reported by the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications, according to Ukrinform.
The expedition includes Ukrainian and Polish forensic experts, anthropologists, and historians.
According to Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Andrii Nadzhos, this is a tragedy of two peoples — Ukrainian and Polish — who fell victim to totalitarian regimes.
“It is important that the search works are taking place in the format of a joint expedition. This demonstrates mutual readiness for dialogue and respect,” Nadzhos noted.
He also thanked the local authorities of Lviv for assisting in carrying out the search and exhumation works.
Specialists note that the identification of the remains is ongoing; the number could be around 40 individuals. The exact figure can only be established by experts. Further work will include assembling the remains, conducting DNA analyses, and officially confirming the number of the dead.
Among the artifacts found were buttons from military uniforms, rank insignia, weapons, helmets, as well as identity tags with numbers. One of them even preserved a surname carved by hand. This raises hopes that the names of certain soldiers can be established.
Earlier this year, in the village of Puzhnyky, Ternopil region, the remains of 42 Polish citizens were discovered. All of them will be reburied according to Christian traditions. A burial site has already been designated. Parallel preparations are underway in Poland: at the end of September, a Ukrainian expedition will begin searches in the village of Yurechkova, near Przemyśl.
According to Nadzhos, the Polish side announced plans to conduct search and exhumation works at 13 locations in Ukraine. Similar works are also planned at four sites in Poland. The process takes place in stages: an object is investigated, exhumation is carried out, and then reburial follows.
As a reminder, Ukraine and Poland earlier agreed on the next stage of joint search and exhumation works on the territories of both states.
As Ukrinform reported, Acting Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications Tetiana Berezhna and Chargé d’Affaires of the Republic of Poland in Ukraine Piotr Łukasiewicz, within the framework of cooperation on preserving historical memory, discussed preparations for the reburial ceremony of the remains discovered during search works in Puzhnyky.
Photo: Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications
Source: Identification of WWII victims found by Ukrainian-Polish expedition underway in Lviv
