Ukrainian forces took back control of the small towns of Bucha and Irpin to the northwest of Kyiv in late March last year as Russian invasion forces abandoned an attempt to seize the capital.
“Russian evil will collapse right here in Ukraine and will never be able to rise again. Humanity will prevail,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
International investigators are now collecting evidence in those towns and other places where Ukraine says Russian troops committed large-scale atrocities. Russia denies the allegations.
After Ukraine took back control of Bucha, harrowing images of dead bodies lying in the street were beamed across the world.
Russias occupation of the town resulted in more than 1,400 deaths, including 37 children, Kyiv said. More than 175 people were found in mass graves and torture chambers and 9,000 Russian war crimes have been identified, it said.
Bucha, a leafy suburb that is now a regular port of call for visiting foreign leaders, was expected to hold commemorative events to mark the anniversary later on Friday.
The leaders of Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Moldova travelled to Ukraine to attend the ceremony.
“This war was imposed on us. But now it united us. We are all Ukrainians today. Your flag is our flag,” said Robert Golob, Slovenian Prime Minister.
Fighting is still raging in the east and south of Ukraine, where Russian forces hold swathes of territory captured after they invaded on Feb. 24, 2022.
For places like Bucha hundreds of miles from the fighting, the war is still felt with regular air raid sirens telling residents to take cover from air strikes that have caused sweeping power outages.
Some buildings remain battered in the town and a scrapyard is full of cars and military vehicles destroyed during last years fighting.
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