The presidents of Poland and Ukraine pay tribute to the victims of the Volyn massacre in the capital of this country – Lutsk; this is a historic event – said the head of the president’s office, Paweł Szrot, in Polsat News. As he added, the president will continue to act in the name of historical truth, the memory of the victims and reconciliation between nations.
The presidents of Poland and Ukraine, Andrzej Duda and Volodymyr Zelensky, took part in an ecumenical service at Lutsk Cathedral, paying tribute to the innocent victims of Volhynia on the 80th anniversary of the Volhynia massacre. As a result of genocidal actions in Volhynia, about 100,000 people died. Poland.
Historic event
The head of the president’s office, Paweł Szrot, told Polsat News that Andrzej Duda’s visit to Ukraine was planned “well in advance”.
Every visit by the president to Ukraine has a special character. All security considerations are maintained, but it is impossible to make such a visit ad hoc, it is impossible not to plan it. It was planned well in advance. I didn’t warn anyone that this would happen
Shrot said.
He emphasized that “both presidents pay tribute to the victims of the massacre in Volhynia, in Volhynia, in the capital of this country – Lutsk.”
This is a historic event
said Szrot.
This is not the end of this difficult road, explaining to our Ukrainian friends about the historical truth, of course, it will continue
– noted the head of the President’s Office.
Statement by the President
As he added, it is now difficult to say that there are no results of “this hard work, especially by Mr. President, all these contacts, conversations, which are often conducted behind the scenes, in discretion.”
When asked what words would be spoken during this visit, Szrot replied that he would not anticipate events.
As a reminder, we also have facts. The first archaeological and excavation works have actually started, despite the bloody war in Ukraine. For this reason, of course, this cannot happen on a large scale
Shrot said.
On behalf of the President, I wish to declare that the President will continue to act on this path in the name of historical truth, in the name of the memory of the victims and in the name of reconciliation between the two great nations.
– he said.
When asked if the excavation in Ukraine will be released during President Andrzej Duda’s term, Szrot replied that “we all have to count on it”.
History dispute
80 years ago, on July 11 and 12, 1943, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army launched a coordinated attack on about 150 Polish-inhabited towns in Włodzimierz, Horochów, Kowel and Łuck counties in the former province of Volhynia. It took advantage of the fact that people gathered in churches on Sunday, July 11. “Bloody Sunday” is considered the culmination of the genocide committed by Ukrainian nationalists against Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in 1943-1945. As a result of genocidal actions in Volhynia, about 100,000 people died. Poland.
The perpetrators of the genocide – the Volhynia massacre were members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists – B (Bandera faction), the Ukrainian insurgent army subordinated to it and the Ukrainian population encouraged by them, neighbors of Poland, often related to them by blood. Roman Shukhevych, the chief commander of the UPA, is directly responsible for issuing the punishment order. The OUN-UPA called its actions an “anti-Polish move” to make Ukraine an area inhabited exclusively by Ukrainians.
Since spring 2017, there has been a dispute between Warsaw and Kiev over the ban on the search for and exhumation of the remains of Polish victims of wars and conflicts on the territory of Ukraine, introduced by the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance. The ban was issued after the dismantling of the illegal UPA monument in Hruszowice in April 2017.
In November 2022, the Freedom and Democracy Foundation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed about the permission of the Ukrainian authorities to search and exhume the graves of Poles killed by the UPA in Ukraine, with the cooperation of Polish specialists. The Foundation announced on its Facebook profile that on November 2, 2022 it had obtained permission from the Ukrainian authorities to start archaeological and search work on the graves of Poles killed by the UPA unit in February 1945 in the town of Puźniki in Podolia, in the former province of Tarnopol.
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Mon/PAP
Source: wPolityce