Ukraine's Zelenskiy visits Poland after progress in World War Two dispute

15/1/2025 15:09

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will visit Warsaw on Wednesday, the Polish prime minister's office said, following what Poland has called a breakthrough in a historical dispute on wartime exhumations that has stood between the allies.



Although Poland has been one of Ukraine's staunchest backers since Russia invaded in 2022, ties between the neighbours have been strained for generations by the Volhynia killings that took place from 1943 to 1945.



Poland says more than 100,000 Poles were killed in the massacres by Ukrainian nationalists. Thousands of Ukrainians also died in reprisal killings.



Poland has long demanded free access for its specialists to sites where the remains of those killed are believed to have been be buried, so that they can be exhumed for proper funerals.



On Friday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk hailed a "breakthrough" in ties, saying that Ukraine had made a decision to allow the first exhumations of victims to take place.



Ukraine often refers to the Volhynia events as part of a conflict between Poland and Ukraine that affected both nations.