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.
Bucha residents walk past burnt out Russian military equipment on 6 April 2022. Photo: Roman Pilipey / EPA-EFE
A woman looks down into a mass grave in Bucha, 7 April 2022. Photo: Oleg Petrasiuk / EPA-EFE
Burnt out vehicles destroyed during Russian attacks piled up in Irpin, June 2022. Photo: Roman Pilipey / EPA-EFE
People cross the destroyed bridge as they flee from the frontline town of Irpin, 7 March 2022. Roman Pilipey / EPA-EFE
A man places a cross on the grave of an unidentified man killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha, August 2022. Photo: Roman Pilipey / EPA-EFE
A burnt out residential building in Irpin, 9 August 2022. Photo: Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA-EFE
Graffiti signed by Italian street artist TVBOY in Bucha, January 2023. Photo: Andrii Nesterenko / EPA-EFE
Children in Bucha starting classes on the first day of the new school year, 1 September 2022. Photo: Roman Pilipey / EPA-EFE
A man repairs a church damaged during Russian attacks in Irpin, Ukraine, 1 July 2022. Photo: Roman Pilipey / EPA-EFE
High school graduates during the last day of school in Bucha, May 2023. Photo: Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA-EFE
A Banksy artwork on the ruins of a building in Bucha, April 2023. Photo: Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA-EFE
Artists and children paint over a car destroyed in the shelling of Bucha, 30 June 2023. Photo: Oleg Petrasiuk / EPA-EFE
The bridge in Irpin, destroyed in March 2022, and the same bridge during repair works in February 2023. Photo: Oleg Petrasiuk / EPA-EFE
A residential building in Bucha after Russian shelling and the same building one year later, in February 2023. Photo: Oleg Petrasiuk / EPA-EFE
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