Conflicts & War

Zelenskyy honors victims of Bucha one year on from town’s liberation

Kyiv, Mar 31 (EFE).- Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday honored the victims of the Russian occupation of Bucha, a town near Kyiv, in a ceremony held to mark one year since it was liberated.

The prime ministers of Moldova, Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia also took part in the vigil.

Accompanied by Zelenskyy, they placed candles at the memorial dedicated to the victims in Bucha, where Ukraine and the international community have documented numerous war crimes allegedly committed by Russian forces.

During the ceremony, the names of the 77 victims found in a mass grave next to a Bucha church who have been identified were revealed. Eleven Ukrainian soldiers who died in the battle for control of the city were also named.

Russia captured the commuter town 34 kilometers northwest of Kyiv on March 12, 2022. Ukrainian forces retook the city on March 31.

According to Ukrainian government figures, 458 civilians were killed by Russian forces during their occupation of Bucha, which has become a symbol of the brutality of Russia’s invasion. EFE

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