Ukrainian expedition finds remains of more than 40 people at 1944 mass-killing site in Polish village of Lasków
A Ukrainian expedition has completed search work in the village of Lasków in Poland's Lublin Voivodeship, where preliminary estimates indicate the remains of more than 40 people, including women, children and men, were found in group and individual burials. The work was commissioned by the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance (UINR) and carried out from 2 to 16 October. Further exhumation studies are planned for spring 2027 to determine the age, sex and cause of death of those buried.
Key points
- Search work took place from 2 to 16 October in Lasków, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland, commissioned by the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance (UINR).
- Remains of more than 40 people were found, including women, children and men, in both group and individual burials.
- On the final day of the expedition, researchers partially uncovered one group burial containing the remains of eight people.
- UINR plans further exhumation studies in spring 2027 to determine the age, sex and cause of death of those buried.
- The communal enterprise "Dolya" carried out the search work after receiving permission from the Polish side on 31 August 2026.
- A mass killing of Ukrainians took place in Lasków on 10 March 1944; historians and experts from Ukraine and Poland have documented 327 residents killed that year, with some historians estimating the total at about 350.
Why it matters
The Lasków expedition provides the first physical evidence recovered from the site of the 10 March 1944 mass killing of Ukrainians, an event for which only historical estimates of victims have so far existed. That the remains include women and children underscores the civilian character of the killings. The planned 2027 exhumations are expected to produce individual-level identifications — age, sex and cause of death — that can anchor historical research and the joint Ukrainian-Polish documentation effort.
What happened
A Ukrainian expedition completed search work at the site of a 1944 mass killing in the village of Lasków in Poland's Lublin Voivodeship. The work ran from 2 to 16 October 2026 and was commissioned by the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance (UINR); the communal enterprise "Dolya" carried out the fieldwork after receiving the relevant permission from the Polish side on 31 August 2026.
Preliminary estimates put the number of remains recovered at more than 40 people. Both group and individual burials were identified, and the remains of women, children and men were found among them. On the final day of the expedition, researchers partially uncovered one of the group burials and recovered the remains of eight people. The head of "Dolya," Sviatoslav Sheremeta, noted that most of the burials are located 40–70 centimetres below the surface. At the close of the expedition, participants lit memorial lamps.
UINR said it plans to conduct further exhumation studies at the site in spring 2027, with the goal of establishing the age, sex and cause of death of those buried. The site is linked to a mass killing of Ukrainians that took place in Lasków on 10 March 1944.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on the scale of the 1944 killing. Historians and experts from Ukraine and Poland have documented 327 Lasków residents killed that year, but some historians put the total closer to 350. Both figures are described as estimates; the final number of victims has not been established and may be revised through the planned further investigations.
Background
Ukraine and Poland exchanged lists of locations for exhumation work in January 2025. In 2025 Ukraine applied to the Polish Institute of National Remembrance for search work in three settlements — Sahryń, Lasków and Przemyśl — and the Polish side supported work only in Lasków. The Polish permit for the Lasków expedition was issued on 31 August 2026. In August, Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar said he had spent several months unsuccessfully seeking at least one permit for Ukrainian search work in Poland; the Lasków permit followed that statement. Similar Ukrainian-led search work was conducted in the village of Jureczkowa in Poland's Subcarpathian region in autumn 2025, while Polish researchers worked in the village of Puzhnyky in Ternopil Oblast and in Lviv the same year, and in summer 2026 search work in Ukraine covered the former villages of Ostrivky and Volia Ostroveretska in Rivne and Volyn oblasts. In August, remains of 55 Polish victims of the Volyn tragedy were reburied in Ostrivky in Volyn Oblast.