President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine ‘will never forgive’ on Bucha anniversary

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine ‘will never forgive’ on Bucha anniversary

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on March 31, 2023 that Ukraine would “never forgive” Moscow for its occupation of Bucha, a year after the town became a symbol of alleged Russian war crimes.

Russian forces pulled back from the commuter town northwest of Kyiv on March 31, 2022, just over one month after President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine.

AFP journalists on April 2 last year discovered the bodies of at least 20 people in civilian clothing, some with their hands tied behind their backs, lying in a street of the suburb.

Mr. Zelenskyy said Bucha had become “a symbol of the atrocities” committed by Russian forces, who have been linked to the extra-judicial killings of unarmed civilians in Bucha.

“We will never forgive. We will punish every perpetrator,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in a statement on social media.

During a visit to Bucha days the Russian troops’ withdrawal, Mr. Zelenskyy described the killings as “genocide”.

Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russian troops of war crimes after the discoveries, pointing to an abundance of footage and witness accounts.