Diplomacy · Puzniki and Huta Pieniacka
Second phase of search for Polish UPA victims in Puzniki ends without finding mass grave
Poland’s culture minister announced Friday that the latest search for victims of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in Puzniki failed to locate a second mass grave, with another round of work planned for August.
In brief
The second stage of searches in Puzniki concluded without finding the expected mass grave of around 90 victims.
Culture Minister Cienkowska said work will resume at another site in Puzniki in August.
Searches confirmed sites where about 100 victims may be buried; exhumations are expected in 2027.
A ban on exhumations in place since 2017 was lifted under a November 2024 agreement between Poland and Ukraine.
- 26 JunSecond stage ends; no second mass grave discovered.
- August 2026Further searches announced in Puzniki.
- 2027Exhumations likely to take place in Huta Pieniacka.
Search results in Puzniki
The second stage of searches by the Freedom and Democracy Foundation and the Pomeranian Medical University ended this week in Puzniki, Ternopil region. No second mass grave was found, Minister of Culture Marta Cienkowska reported on Friday.
“This time, the second mass grave of victims was not found. It is difficult news, but it does not change our goal.”
Historical context
The victims are among the estimated 40,000 to 100,000 Poles killed by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army during the Volhynia massacres, which the Institute of National Remembrance described as genocide. The searches target a cemetery in the now-vanished village. In September 2025, 43 victims' remains were exhumed and given a solemn burial. Witness testimony suggests a second grave may hold around 90 individuals.
Parallel work in Huta Pieniacka
Separately, searches in the former village of Huta Pieniacka in Lviv region concluded last week. The expedition identified sites where roughly 100 victims may be buried. Exhumations there are likely to take place in 2027.
Government support and diplomatic background
The efforts are supported by the Culture Ministry and the Institute of National Remembrance. Ukraine imposed a ban on searches and exhumations of Polish victims in 2017, but Poland and Ukraine signed a moratorium in November 2024 allowing the work to proceed.
“Every victim deserves to be found, named and given a dignified burial. We will not stop searching.”