Zelensky opens archives, greenlights Polish Volyn massacre exhumations

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine will open the archives of its wartime security services covering the 1943‑44 Volyn killings and has agreed to expand the exhumations of Polish victims of the massacre. The move fulfills a long‑standing Polish demand for access to the documents and for the dignified burial of the estimated 100,000 Poles killed. German media described the step as a de‑escalation of the Poland‑Ukraine dispute. Polish MP Paweł Kowal said the government will quickly build the capacity needed to carry out larger‑scale exhumations. A Czech analysis noted that many key records may reside in Russian archives, limiting the practical impact of the Ukrainian disclosure. Observers consider the gesture largely symbolic, with its real effect dependent on subsequent cooperation and the availability of missing documents.