Ukraine marks third anniversary of Bucha's liberation from Russia

By Malek Fouda with AP, EBU

The commemoration of the fallen soldiers, including those who defended Bucha in the first days of Russia’s attacks, took place at the local cemetery. Residents, relatives, friends and colleagues of the fallen soldiers gathered there. They laid flowers at the graves and lit candles.

The head of Kyiv’s Regional Military Administration, Mykola Kalashnyk, was in attendance where he addressed the people, reminding people of Russia’s atrocities. In under 33 days of Russian occupation, 561 people were killed.

Russian troops quickly occupied Bucha shortly after launching their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and stayed for about a month.

When Ukrainian troops retook the town, they found what became known as the epicentre of the war’s atrocities.

Mass graves of civilians were discovered and thousands of war crimes were documented after it was reclaimed in March 2022.

This year's commemoration was overshadowed by political developments with many Ukrainians expressing displeasure at the state of ceasefire negotiations with Russia.

According to Ukrainian government and military analysts, Russian forces are preparing to launch a fresh military offensive in the coming weeks to maximise pressure on Kyiv and strengthen the Kremlin’s negotiating position in ceasefire talks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of prolonging ceasefire talks in a bid to buy time and take more territory from Ukraine.

One soldier at the memorial in Bucha was dead against any compromise in negotiations with Russia.

"I buried so many guys, my fighters. What did they fight for? To give away these territories? It's written in our constitution that this is our territory," said soldier Ihor Lvutin.

"Are we supposed to dishonour our constitution? And give all this to the enemy? So I say no. By no means."