Ukraine marks grim Bucha anniversary, calls for justice
Ukrainians are commemorating the anniversary of the liberation of Bucha after a brutal Russian occupation a year ago left behind hundreds of dead civilians, some with signs of torture, establishing the town near Kyiv as an epicenter of the war’s atrocities
BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainians marked the anniversary of the liberation of Bucha Friday with calls for remembrance and justice after a brutal Russian occupation that left hundreds of civilians dead in the streets and in mass graves, establishing the town near Kyiv as an epicenter of the war's atrocities.
“We will not let it be forgotten,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a ceremony in Bucha, vowing to punish those who committed outrages there that are still raw. “Human dignity will not let it be forgotten. On the streets of Bucha, the world has seen Russian evil. Evil unmasked.”
Bucha's name has come to evoke savagery by Moscow's military since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Ukrainian troops who retook the town found the bodies of men, women and children on the streets, in yards and homes, and in mass graves. Some showed signs of torture.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, fighting continued Friday: Russia used its long-range arsenal to bombard several areas, killing at least two civilians and damaging homes.
