Starting over
Bucha, a small town in the Kyiv region, became a symbol of the atrocities committed by Russian troops during the initial weeks of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Kyiv region, the widespread evidence of war crimes and a massacre of local civilians shocked the world.
Over 1,400 people died in Bucha during the 33 days it endured of Russian occupation, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, among them 175 people who were found in mass graves and torture chambers.
Irpin, another small town near Kyiv, was also liberated in late March 2022, with the bodies of 269 local civilians discovered soon after the Russian troops withdrew from the area.
Having been half-destroyed by shelling, both Bucha and Irpin are now rebuilding themselves as Ukraine continues its fight against Russian occupation.
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