Zelensky vows ‘never to forgive’ Russia over Bucha occupation on liberation anniversary

‘Russian evil will collapse right here in Ukraine, and will never be able to rise again,’ president says

(From left to right) Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger attend a commemorative ceremony marking the first anniversary of liberation the town of Bucha (via REUTERS)

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine will never forgive Russian troops responsible for atrocities in Bucha, as the town near Kyiv marked the anniversary of its recapture after more than a month of occupation.

Ukrainian forces took back control of the towns of Bucha and Irpin to the northwest of Kyiv in late March last year as Russian invasion forces abandoned their attempt to seize the capital.

“Russian evil will collapse right here in Ukraine, and will never be able to rise again. Humanity will prevail,” Mr Zelensky said, leading a ceremony at which the Ukrainian flag was raised in Bucha.

The president handed out medals to soldiers involved in recapturing the town, and relatives received medals on behalf of fallen soldiers who were awarded them posthumously.

“When Bucha was de-occupied, we saw that the devil was not somewhere out there but on the ground. The heinous truth about what was happening in the temporarily occupied territories was revealed to the world,” Zelensky said.

Images of dead bodies lying in the street were beamed across the world after Ukraine regained control. Moscow denies accusations of executions, rapes and torture by its occupying troops. Kyiv says more than 1,400 people were killed in Bucha during the occupation including 37 children, more than 175 people were found in mass graves and torture chambers, and 9,000 Russian alleged war crimes have been identified.

Mr Zelensky described Bucha as a “symbol of the atrocities” of Russian occupying forces.

“We will never forget the victims of this war, and we will certainly bring all Russian murderers to justice,” Mr Zelensky wrote on social media. “We will never forgive. We will punish every perpetrator.”

Moldova’s president and the prime ministers of Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia also attended Friday's ceremony.

“We honour and grieve the innocent. Democracies must work together to ensure that these atrocities are investigated and punished,” said Moldovan President Maia Sandu, who has joined with Mr Zelensky in seeking European Union membership for her country.

Meanwhile, in Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Turk deplored how grave human rights violations were “shockingly routine” in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and said the number of civilian casualties was far higher than official figures.

Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Nr Turk said Ukraine was a nation “struggling to survive” in the face of Russia’s invasion.

“After 13 months of the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine, severe violations of human rights and international humanitarian law have become shockingly routine,” he said. “People across the country face massive suffering and loss, deprivation, displacement and destruction.”

Next week, the council is expected to adopt a resolution to extend and deepen the mandate of a U.N. investigative body set up to probe possible atrocities in Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations that its forces have committed such acts.

Russia has been conducting a winter offensive to make small advances in eastern at huge cost of life. Ukrainian forces have dug in and held out for now in the city of Bakhmut and are expected to launch a counteroffensive soon.

Tensions have mounted between Russia and the West over the war. Relations between Washington and Moscow plunged further on Thursday when Russia arrested a Wall Street Journal correspondent, Evan Gershkovich, on allegations of spying, which the paper denied and the White House called “ridiculous”.

For places like Bucha hundreds of miles away from the frontline, the war is still felt, with regular air raid sirens telling residents to take cover from missile and drone strikes that have caused major power outages.

Residents in Bucha speak of the deep psychological wounds left by the occupation and say it would take generations to get over it. Some buildings remain battered in the town and a scrapyard is full of cars and military vehicles destroyed during last year’s fighting.

“We should understand that it’s easy to rebuild walls, but it’s much harder to rebuild a wounded soul,” said Andriy Holovin, a priest at a Ukrainian Orthodox parish.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin, said his office had identified almost 100 Russian soldiers suspected of war crimes in Bucha and indictments against 35 of them had been sent to court.

“I’m convinced that all these crimes are not a coincidence. This is part of Russia’s planned strategy to destroy Ukraine as a state and Ukrainians as a nation,” he said.

Reuters