In the village of Uhly, Sarny urban community, Rivne region, search operations have begun at the site of the probable burial of local residents – Ukrainians and Poles who died in 1943. This was reported by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, writes UNN.
Details
Deputy Minister of Culture of Ukraine Ivan Verbytskyi emphasized the importance of joint work between the two states on the issue of historical memory.
Ukraine and Poland are working together to properly honor the memory of the victims and expand trust between our peoples to establish the truth about the difficult pages of the common history of Ukrainians and Poles
As noted, the search operations are being carried out in accordance with the agreements of the Ukrainian-Polish Working Group on Historical Memory, which were recorded in a joint communiqué following the results of 2025.
These agreements were also confirmed during the meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Polish leader Karol Nawrocki, which took place in December 2025 in Warsaw.
The historical events associated with this place date back to May 1943, when some residents of the village of Uhly — both representatives of the Polish and Ukrainian communities — died as a result of an armed attack. The probable burial site is located near the former evangelical cemetery, where residents of German settlements were buried at the beginning of the 20th century. At the same time, the exact number of victims and the detailed circumstances of the tragedy still remain unknown.
The village of Uhly, which is now located within the Sarny urban community of the Sarny district of the Rivne region, belonged to the Stepan gmina of the Kostopil county of the Volyn Voivodeship of the Second Polish Republic during 1920–1930.
During that period, representatives of the Polish ethnic group lived compactly here.
The main goal of the expedition is to establish the exact burial site. If the findings are confirmed, the next stages will be:
- exhumation,
- identification of the discovered remains,
- dignified reburial.
The search expedition is being carried out by the Communal Enterprise of the Lviv Regional Council "Dolya" on the basis of a permit granted by the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine in 2025. The initiator of the work was the head of the "Polish-Ukrainian Reconciliation" society, Karolina Romanowska. Specialists from the Pomeranian Medical University from the Republic of Poland also joined the project.