PUZHNYKY, Ukraine: Remains of Poles killed by Ukrainian nationalist insurgents during World War Two were buried in western Ukraine on Saturday as officials from both countries looked on, a move to ease a rare strain in relations between the two close allies.
Poland was allowed to exhume the remains in the former Polish village of Puzniki, in present-day Ukraine, earlier this year after longstanding demands from Warsaw over the issue, which has caused friction between the neighboring countries.
With Polish Catholic priests officiating, the simple wooden coffins of 42 Poles, each marked with a cross and flanked by wooden cross, were placed in a long, narrow grave in a wooded, abandoned cemetery.
Lanterns and wreaths draped in Polish red and white and Ukrainian yellow and blue colors were laid alongside.
“The victims of the Puzniki massacre rested in an unmarked grave for decades, but their memory endures for their loved ones and those who fought for this remembrance, truth, and act of elementary justice,” Polish Culture Minister Marta Cienkowska was quoted as saying by state news agency PAP.
