In a statement, Zelensky said Poland and Ukraine must remain united against Russia, describing Moscow as a common threat to both countries. He said Ukraine would continue search and exhumation work at sites where Polish civilians killed during World War II are believed to be buried. The commemorations came ahead of excavations in Ostrivky and Volia Ostrovetska in Ukraine’s western Volhynia region. Ukraine previously approved exhumations at the two sites. Polish historians estimate that up to 100,000 Poles were killed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and allied nationalist formations in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia between 1943 and 1945. The issue remains a source of tension, intensified by Zelensky’s decision to honor a military unit with the title “Heroes of the UPA.”