Ukrainian Institute of National Memory asks for money to exhume victims of the Volyn tragedy

Anton Drobovych, head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, asks the Government to allocate at least 1 million UAH. This is necessary for the search for the victims of the Volyn tragedy.

He made the announcement during a national telethon on Friday, October 4. 

Drobovych asks for funds to exhume bodies

According to Anton Drobovych, the Government is being asked to provide at least UAH 1 million to launch a search program, including at the request of Polish citizens. He noted that currently there is no such program, but if Polish citizens will make such requests, it would be possible to start search operations. 

"To have a separate program for search operations, especially if Polish citizens approach us, we will try to help them," said Drobovych.

He also added that the Polish side has been unable to launch special working groups or interagency commissions for years. As a result, the Poles are reaching out directly to Ukraine.

Recall that the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Teofil Bartoszewski, stated that Poland might block negotiations regarding Ukraine's EU membership. He claimed that if the victims of the Volyn tragedy are not exhumed, this condition will be imposed. This position has been criticized directly in Poland, including by the former head of the Polish Foreign Ministry, who stated that instead of unlocking the exhumation process, the Polish government chose a path of conflict rhetoric. Subsequently, a conflict even arose between Volodymyr Zelensky and Radek Sikorski, the Polish Foreign Minister, who stated that during his visit to Kyiv, he was assured that the issue of exhuming the victims of the Volyn tragedy would be resolved. Despite this, on October 3, it became known that the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance plans to start search and exhumation work for the victims of the Volyn tragedy in 2025.