On the first anniversary of the Russian withdrawal of Boucha, who has become a crying symbol of “the atrocities” attributed to Moscow troops, the Ukrainian president assured: “We will never forgive” Russia for this massacre. “We will punish all the culprits,” Volodymyr Zelensky vowed as commemorations are scheduled for the day. Friday evening, March 31, Volodymyr Zelensky called for Boucha to become a “symbol of justice”.
These scenes shocked the whole world, kyiv and Westerners denouncing summary executions of civilians and war crimes. The Kremlin denies any involvement and evokes a staging. During his visit to the site two days after the discovery, the visibly upset President Zelensky denounced “war crimes” which will be “recognized by the world as genocide”.
Since then, almost all foreign leaders who have visited Ukraine have made a detour to go to Boutcha. A year after his release, AFP journalists observed reconstruction work in this peaceful suburban town on Thursday, which had 37,000 inhabitants before the war. Dozens of construction workers are busy amidst diggers, backhoes and dump trucks to rebuild the houses and redo the roadway.
Russian forces have been accused of multiple abuses by Ukrainian authorities after the discovery of hundreds of bodies in Butcha and other towns, hundreds of graves near Izium or “torture chambers” in recaptured towns, according to Kiev.
Russia continues to deny any abuse by its forces. On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Maria Zakharova once again denounced the Boutcha affair as “a crude and cynical provocation” by kyiv.
Consult our file: War in Ukraine