Ukraine marks grim Bucha anniversary, Zelensky calls for justice

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, called for Bucha to become a "symbol of justice" on Friday, one year after Russia withdrew from the town that is now associated with war crimes accusations.

Bucha was liberated on March 31 after a cruel Russian occupation that left hundreds of citizens dead in the streets and in mass graves, making the town an epicentre of the war's crimes. On Friday, March 31, Ukrainians commemorated this day with cries for remembering and justice.

At a ceremony in Bucha, President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to punish those who perpetrated the atrocities there, saying, "We will not let it be forgotten." "Human decency won't allow it to be overlooked. Russian wickedness has been witnessed by the world on the streets of Bucha. Evil revealed."

Src

After Moscow's troops started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the term Bucha has come to represent brutality. Men, women, and children's dead were discovered on the streets, in yards and homes, as well as in mass graves as Ukrainian army retook the town close to Kiev. Torture was evident in some.

Fighting raged on Friday in other parts of Ukraine. Russia employed its long-range armament to blast fresh targets, killing at least two people and causing property damage.

The president of Belarus, a neighbour and ally of Moscow, upped the stakes when he suggested that Russian strategic nuclear weapons and some tactical nuclear weapons from Moscow may be stationed there. Russia announced earlier this week that it intended to station low-yield, tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. These bombs have a very small range. A bigger threat would be posed by strategic nuclear weapons, such as warheads carried by missiles.

Zelensky attended the formal memorial at Bucha together with the presidents of Moldova, Croatia, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

During their invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin's soldiers controlled Bucha for almost a month. The town was under attack when Ukrainian soldiers retook it. Hundreds of dead, including children, were discovered over the course of weeks and months.