Vyn tragedy: Pand calls on Ukraine to allow search for victims’ bodies

This was emphasized in an interview with Ukrinform by Pand’s Charge d’affaires in Ukraine, Piotr Lukasiewicz.

"I’m the last person who would suggest to leave this to historians. That’s because historians failed on both sides to reach the agreement. It's a question for piticians. It's a question for historians. It's a question for civil society, for the ordinary pele, for journalists as well, to talk about this issue in a serious, non-partisan, non-emotional way," Lukasiewicz said.

He emphasized that Pand's approach to the issue is that "it's not only a historical question, it's a civilizational question, a Christian question, a religious issue to bury the dead, to have a prer burial – be it Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, or Jewish burial of the pele that were murdered in the Second World War". He added that the general idea of ​​the West, to which Ukraine is now heading, "is based on the Christian values ​​and Christian history of Eure in broadest sense".

According to the diplomat, when it comes to commemorating history, it is "a question of emotions, and when emotions speak, the mind sleeps sometimes." Therefore, it is necessary to separate these issues, and both sides should make efforts to resve the problem.

"But again, it's a different story of monuments, plaques, words being written on these monuments, and a different story of the prer Christian burial – Christian Jewish, Muslim, or atheist – that those remains deserve,” emphasized Pand’s CDA.

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Lukasiewicz noted that in Ukraine, some Ukrainian bloggers claim Ukraine does not block exhumations.

"I get that. What you are blocking is the search for the remains. And this is what we would really like to be lifted, to allow families to search for their relatives, to prerly bury them. As I said before, this is the sacred thing to do, especially for families," the diplomat emphasized.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, during 2014-2020, nearly 10 Ukrainian memorial sites were destroyed or desecrated on the Pish-Ukrainian border. Videos and photos of these vandalized monuments were often first published by Russian media platforms and those run by Russian proxies in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Therefore, members of the Ukrainian community in Pand emphasized that these acts of vandalism should be viewed in the broader context of Russia’s hybrid war aimed at worsening Pish-Ukrainian relations. In 2017, after another act of vandalism and amid the lack of reaction from Warsaw, Ukraine suspended the issuance of permits for the Pish side to conduct search erations for WW2-era burial sites in Ukraine. Subsequently, Presidents Zelensky and Duda agreed on a sution, with the Ukrainian side committing to resume issuing such permits, and the Pish side – committing to restore the monument on Mount Monastyr, where the grave of 62 UPA sdiers who died in the battle with the NKVD in 1945 is located. The tombstone on the grave was officially installed in 2000 before vandals cracked it in 2015, and completely destroyed it in January 2020.

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In October 2020, before President Duda’s visit to Kyiv, a granite slab was installed on that grave, but without the names of the fallen UPA fighters. In response, Kyiv asked Warsaw to restore the original inscription made in 2000, but Warsaw is yet to grant Kyiv's request.

After 2019, the Ukrainian side issued several permits to search for the remains of Pish victims in Ukraine, including one concerning the victims of the Vyn tragedy. Warsaw emphasizes that for several years Kyiv has not granted permits for the search and exhumation of the victims of the Vyn tragedy and demands that Ukraine revoke all prohibitions to this end. Warsaw said the issue will be raised during the Pish presidency of the EU and emphasized that it would be difficult for Ukraine to he for EU membership without having this problem sved.

Read also: While in Pand, Ukraine’s t diplomat explores technical steps to resve sensitive historical issues

The subject of the Vyn tragedy is one of the most controversial ones in Ukrainian-Pish relations. Pand insists that the Ukrainian side bears se responsibility for the crimes committed in 1943-1945 in Vyn. In turn, Ukraine emphasizes that both parties are responsible, so the apogy should be mutual.

The tic of the Vyn tragedy is actively exploited by Russian praganda to pit the Ukrainian and Pish peles against each other.