On September 12-13, 2025, the 6th International Scientific Conference “Ukrainians and Their Neighbors throughout the Ages: Politics, Economy, Religion, Culture and Daily Life” was held in Przemyśl, Poland. The event was organized by the Ukrainian Historical Society in Poland and took place in Narodnyi Dim (National House), a hub of Ukrainian culture life in the city. The National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War was represented by Roman Kabachiy, Head of First World War Researcher Sector and Candidate of Historical Science.
His report, “The Preservation of Ethnic Diversity in Kherson Oblast Before and After the Full-Scale Russian Invasion: Meskhetians Turks, Poles, Germans, Swedes and Boykos”, discussed the development of ethnic communities in the Kherson Oblast following the Revolution of Dignity, processes of the decentralization and decommunization. Their consequence was, in particular, the growth of number of public organizations among the region’s Meskhetian Turks and the establishment of social, cultural and religious life for other ethnic minorities. For example, in the village of Pravdyne, the restored Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, built by the Polish community at the turn of 19th and 20th centuries, was consecrated. In the village of Zmiivka, known as “Little Europe” three churches functioned: The Orthodox Church of Ukraine, a Greek Catholic Church for displaced Boykos people and a Lutheran church for Germans and Swedes.
Full-scale Russian invasion changed everything: the population of Pravdyne decreased to 200, Roman Catholic priest Lukash Mika was forced to leave, Meskhetian Turks began to move to Turkey and the churches in Zmiivka were destroyed by shelling from the right bank after de-occupation.
During the conference, Roman Kabachiy also attended and opening and presentation of an exhibition dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the crime in the village of Berezka in Nadsyannya, prepared by the “Memory and Heritage” Union of Ukrainians. Ukrainian historian Bohdan Huk from Przemyśl presented his view on the causes of the surge in anti-Ukrainian attacks on villages in Nadsyannya in the spring of 1945.
