Zelenskyy visits Poland, agrees on exhuming WWII victims

WARSAW, Poland -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was visiting Poland on Wednesday after the two countries reached an agreement on a longstanding source of tensions between them: the exhumation of Polish victims of World War II-era massacres by Ukrainian nationalists.

The office of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said early Wednesday he would welcome Zelenskyy in the late morning, and that the two would hold a joint news conference shortly after noon local time.

The visit comes just days after Tusk announced progress on the issue of the exhumations, an issue that has strained relations for years.

“Finally a breakthrough. There is a decision on the first exhumations of Polish victims of the UPA," Tusk wrote on the social platform X on Friday, referring to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. “I thank the ministers of culture of Poland and Ukraine for their good cooperation. We are waiting for further decisions.”

A non-governmental group, the Freedom and Democracy Foundation, said Monday it will begin exhumation work on victims in Ukraine in April.

Although Poland has been one of Ukraine's most stalwart supporters since Russia's full-scale invasion nearly three years ago, the issue of the Polish victims lying in mass graves in Ukrainian soil eight decades after they were killed has left a festering bitterness among many Poles.

It also has put pressure on Tusk, who is seeking to show progress on an issue of continued importance to many people in Poland. It is particularly important as his party's candidate in a presidential election in May is expected to face a strong challenge from a nationalist opposition candidate.

The issue dates back to 1943-44, when Europe was at war. Ukrainian nationalists massacred about 100,000 Poles in Volhynia and other regions that were then in eastern Poland, under Nazi German occupation, and which are now part of Ukraine.

Entire villages were burned down and their inhabitants killed by the nationalists and their helpers who were seeking to establish an independent Ukraine state. Poland considers the events a genocide and has been asking Ukraine to let them exhume the victims to give them proper burials.

An estimated 15,000 Ukrainians were killed in retaliation.

The issue is difficult for Ukraine because some of the World War II-era Ukrainian nationalists are regarded as national heroes due to their struggle for Ukraine's statehood.

As the two sides moved to resolve the issue, the chairman of Ukraine’s parliament in May 2023 offered words of reconciliation in the Polish parliament.

“Human life has equal value, regardless of nationality, race, sex or religion,” Ruslan Stefanchuk told Polish lawmakers at the time. “With this awareness we will cooperate with you, dear Polish friends, and we will accept the truth regardless of how uncompromising it may be.”