"I was at home that day. I saw through the window that a convoy of Russian vehicles was coming. They started to drive back and at that time our Armed Forces started to cover them," says Viktor, a resident of Bucha. "When I came out and the equipment was burning, these houses were still intact, and later, when the ammunition was exploding, everything was destroyed with debris and shells."

The fighting on Vokzalna Street is part of the Battle of Bucha, which lasted from February 25 to March 31, 2022. It was on February 27 that Ukrainian artillery smashed a convoy of more than 100 enemy vehicles marked with the letter V. During the fighting, nearby houses were destroyed.

According to the UN Institute for Training and Research, the town of Bucha was destroyed by 26%. Bucha was under occupation for 33 days.

After the city was liberated by the Ukrainian army, mass graves of civilians were found. The crimes were accompanied by abductions, torture, rape (both adults and children), and looting.

The "Bucha massacre" was the name the international community gave to these horrific events after witnessing the crimes committed by the armed forces and other formations of the Russian Federation.

The occupiers killed 1137 people in Bucha and the surrounding area; 461 people were killed in the city itself.
As of the beginning of 2023, the city is gradually coming back to life under martial law, and civilians have returned to the destroyed city. They are actively rebuilding their homes. Children went to kindergartens and schools.

* Based on data from the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine