The remains of over 30 people were found in Puźniki, over 20 exhumed

During the search in Puźniki, Western Ukraine, the Polish-Ukrainian expedition has found the remains of over 30 people so far. Over 20 of them were exhumed – said Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine Andriy Nadżos.

– Our work is organized in such a way that at the end of each day we receive reports. The remains of over 30 people were found until Saturday. Over 20 people have already been exhumed. A fairly large number of different artifacts, buttons, shoes, coins, crosses were found and taken – said Nadżos.

Puźniki is a former village in today's Ternopilian region in the West Ukrainewhere on the night of February 12-13, 1945, Ukrainian nationalists murdered – according to various sources – from 50 to 120 Poles. On April 24, the first exhumations went there since the Ukrainian side abolished in November 2024, a ban on the search and exhumation of the remains of Polish victims and conflicts in Ukraine.

Andrij Nadżos: We will finish field research in Puźniki in a week

According to Nadżos, the experts present at the site of the search are now determining the sex of people buried at the cemetery in Puźniki. – There are indeed the remains of both women and men. We know that the remains of several children were found, but we can not talk about the cause of their death, because these works last in the old cemetery. Some victims of these tragic events were buried earlier, and others later, so this is a question for experts – he emphasized.

Deputy Minister Nadżos announced that the field work of the Polish-Ukrainian expedition in Puźniki is slowly approaching the end. – It can be said that in a week we will finish field research. Anthropological studies will continue and the genetic material will be taken for a comparative DNA analysis. The works are very smooth, both teams work exceptionally well. We have not noticed any incidents. All necessary conditions were created for the proper operation of both expeditions, in the common reality of the Ukrainian -Polish expedition – he said.

Deputy Minister Nadżos about a joint report after the end of the search

Nadżos expects a joint report on them after completing the work. – This, of course, will be the subject of our (Polish-Ukrainian) negotiations, but such a report would allow us to release such processes. Because we started this work just to be reliable, i.e. creating conditions for experts to determine the actual scale of tragedy and determine the causes of death. Therefore, the (joint) report can be an important topic and will concern what connects two friendly and neighboring nations, not what divides them – he said.

Nadżos expressed the supposition that after Puźniki the remains of Poles could be searching, buried in other places in his country. – Perhaps this is quite possible because we will be preparing (for subsequent activities) after Puźniki, and God, we will undergo this stage, which is very important for Poles and Ukrainians – he said.

– We also do not forget that the Ukrainian expedition will be ready to go to Poland and do the same job. Therefore, if we create a precedent in the recent history, we open a new side, it will really allow us to transfer this dialogue not to the political plane, but to the level of experts and historians, which should take place between normal, friendly, neighboring countries – he emphasized in a telephone conversation with PAP.

Exhumation works in Puźniki

Experts from the Pomeranian Medical University, the company “Volyn antiquity” and the Institute of National Remembrance take part in the works coordinated by the “Freedom and Democracy” Foundation.

Exhumations in Puźniki are a continuation of works carried out by the “Freedom and Democracy” Foundation from May to August 2023, ending with finding a grave, in which the remains of the victims of the crime rest. In January 2025, based on the results of the search, the Ukrainian authorities granted permission to exhumate the remains found.

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