On March 31, 2022, Russian troops withdrew from Bucha, a city of 30,000 residents 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of Kyiv. Known as a quiet middle-class suburb with forested area nearby, Bucha was left in ruins after fierce fighting not long after the start of Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
During the five weeks of Russian occupation, the city became a living hell.
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Russian forces tortured and killed residents, sometimes for pure amusement or on baseless accusations of ties to Ukraine’s Defense Forces.
According to investigators, a total of 637 civilians were killed. Most were shot, while others were crushed by heavy machinery.
On March 31, 2025, the third anniversary of Bucha’s liberation, President Volodymyr Zelensky, First Lady Olena Zelenska, and delegations from nearly two dozen countries honored the memory of those killed.
Representatives from the parliaments of Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Spain, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and the European Parliament attended the commemoration.
“Since then, no one in the world can claim they do not know what exactly Ukraine is fighting for,” Zelensky said.
“Three years ago, our soldiers liberated Bucha from the Russian invaders, and the world saw what Russian occupation truly means. People were executed in the streets. Tortured civilians. Mass graves in the yards of ordinary houses... Ukraine is fighting for the lives of its people—to ensure that no one on our land ever suffers what the Russian occupiers inflicted,” the president said.
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Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal also declared that Ukraine will neither forget nor forgive Russia for “a single Ukrainian death.”
A US representative, Pastor Mark Burns, a spiritual adviser to former US President Donald Trump, also visited Bucha. The Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, Moshe Reuven Asman, who invited Burns to Ukraine, made the announcement.
“First of all, Pastor Burns and I visited Bucha, Irpin, and Borodyanka to witness firsthand the consequences of the crimes committed by the Russian army against the civilian population of Ukraine and to hear the testimonies of survivors of this horrific occupation personally. What we saw deeply moved him – he did not hide his pain, indignation, and sincere sympathy,” Asman wrote on Facebook.
On the third anniversary of the city’s liberation, Bucha Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk announced that a memorial will soon be erected near the mass graves where exhumations took place in April 2022.
“This memorial will tell the story of 33 days of occupation – not through numbers or dates, but through form, material, and silence. The main structure will be inverted, symbolizing the upended lives of those who lost everything. A corridor will descend underground before emerging back into the light, reflecting the journey from fear to hope. Nearby, an artificial pond will be surrounded by plaques bearing the names of the victims. Each name will be illuminated at night, a symbol of memory that never fades,” Fedoruk said.
A year ago, Kyiv Post published an exclusive report from Bucha, sharing the harrowing testimonies of survivors who endured the Russian occupation, faced their aggressors, and lived through unspeakable violence.
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