Russian troops quickly occupied Bucha after invading Ukraine two years ago and stayed for about a month. When Ukrainian troops retook the town, they found what became known as the epicenter of the war’s atrocities.
Dozens of bodies of men, women, and children lay on the streets, in yards and homes, and in mass graves. Some showed signs of torture. Day after day, body collectors found the dead in basements, lying in doorways, deep in the woods. The once comfortable suburb was shocked and silent.
In the neighboring suburb of Irpin, where entire streetscapes were shattered and blackened under Russian occupation, what was destroyed is being reconstructed. To mark the second anniversary of the liberation of these and other Kyiv suburbs, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked all those involved in their renewal. “This is about more than just rebuilding from the ruins; it is about preserving the idea of a free world and our united Europe,” he said.
But for those who suffered the worst of Russian atrocities, such changes are cosmetic. For those Bucha residents, time has not dulled the pain of loss. Many are struggling to come to terms with what happened to them and their loved ones.
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