In Puźniki, during long awaited exhumations, remains of at least 42 people were found. The discovery sheds new light on the dramatic events of 80 years ago and opens the way to commemorate the victims.
What happened in the Cannones?
❗️🇺🇦 🇵🇱 Exhumations in Puźniki: the remains of at least 42 people have been discovered, including women and children
In the Ukrainian village of Puźniki in the Tarnopolski region, fragments of skeletons belonging to at least 42 people were found – women, men and children. The final number of victims, as well as their age... pic.twitter.com/smnwEzGwGgy
— Dominik Serwacki 🇵🇱 ✍️ 🌍 (@DominikServacki) July 21, 2025
On the night of 12 to 13 February 1945, a branch of the Ukrainian Insurgency Army committed crimes on at least 70 Poles in Puźniki, located in the former Buchacki County, Tarnopolskie Voivodeship. The UPA branch was led by Petr Chamczuk "Bystry", who twice organized criminal rallies in the former Tarnopolskie Voivodeship.
The UPA branch was commanded by Petr Chamczuk "Bystry", who twice organized criminal rallies in the former Tarnopolskie Voivodeship – Rafał Mosiołek
On the night of 12 to 13 February 1945, a branch of the Ukrainian Insurgency Army committed crimes on at least 70 Poles in Puźniki, located in the former Buchacki County, Tarnopolskie Voivodeship.
Cannons, old village located today in Tarnopolskie District in Ukraine, were the place of one of the most tragic cards of Polish-Ukrainian history. On the night of 12 to 13 February 1945, the sotnia UPA committed a violent crime on the Polish population. According to various sources, 50 to 120 people were killed, including women, men and children.
Photo: x.com/Wild1Zbyszek
Exhumation course
Photo: x.com/AndyOsa1978
Exhumations in Puźniki began April 24, 2025, after lifting the Ukrainian ban on the search and extraction of Polish war victims in Ukraine. The research was conducted by a Polish-Ukrainian team, composed of experts from the Pomeranian Medical University, the Institute of National Memory, the Freedom and Democracy Foundation and Ukrainian archaeologists..
The Freedom and Democracy Foundation informed that it obtained permission from the Ukrainian authorities to start working and searching graves of Poles murdered by UPA in February 1945 in Puźniki, Podolu, in the former Tarnopolskie Voivodeship.
Apart from bones, archaeologists also secured personal artifacts – buttons, rosary fragments, medals.
The Importance of Discovery to History
x.com/CommonMemory
Discovered remains and objects are not only evidence – they are also the key to the identity of victims and closures for families who have been waiting for decades to be able to bury their loved ones..
Diversification of victims
According to preliminary data, among the found:
Women
Male
Children (the remains of 11 minors have already been confirmed)
Laboratory tests will accurately determine the number and age and gender profiles of the victims.
Why are the exhumations in the Cannones groundbreaking?
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki Puźniki 2023 | Photo: x.com/Andruszkiewicz1
Recent work in Puźniki has been done after years of effort and in extremely difficult conditions – both politically and logistically. The area of the former village grew, the infrastructure was destroyed and the commute was hampered. However, family determination, government support and international cooperation not only brought a breakthrough for the Desert but also gave hope for similar actions in other memorial sites..
According to specialists, this is probably not the end – archaeologists suspect that there may be another mass grave. Each such project is not only restoring the names of the victims, but also a symbolic gesture of reconciliation and truth, necessary to build Polish-Ukrainian relations.
