Polish minister ends Puźniki mass‑grave search in Ukraine

The Polish Ministry of Culture announced on 26 June that the latest phase of excavations at the former village of Puźniki in Ukraine has been completed without locating a second collective burial site of Polish victims of the 1945 UPA massacres. Minister Marta Cienkowska said, “each victim deserves to be found, named and given a dignified burial,” and confirmed that preparations are under way for a new search phase scheduled to start on 17 August.

The work was carried out by the Foundation Freedom and Democracy together with the Pomeranian Medical University, the Ministry of Culture and the Institute of National Remembrance. The earlier 2025 excavation at the same site uncovered the remains of 43 people, and investigators believe a second grave could contain up to 90 victims. Recent surveys in the former village of Huta Pieniacka identified possible burial sites of about 100 Poles, with exhumations planned for next year. The searches follow the lifting of a moratorium on Polish war‑crime investigations in Ukraine, agreed at a 2024 joint press conference by Polish and Ukrainian foreign ministers.