Zelenskyy, four European leaders mark anniversary of Bucha de-occupation

The leaders of Croatia, Moldova, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine gathered on Friday to take part in mourning events in the town of Bucha in the Kyiv region, marking a year since it was freed from Russian occupation.

The ceremony was attended by presidents of Ukraine and Moldova, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Maia Sandu, as well as prime ministers of Croatia Andrej Plenkovic, Slovakia Eduard Heger, and Slovenia Robert Golob.

The four European leaders had come to Ukraine earlier this morning in an unannounced visit.

"Bucha has become the city that changed and awakened the world after its liberation. In its liberated streets, the world saw the outright evil; saw what the Kremlin wanted to bring to other streets of Ukraine and the world that the Russian occupiers would like to seize," Mr Zelenskyy said in his speech.

In addition, the Ukrainian president also awarded Bucha the title of the Hero City.

A small town in the Kyiv region, which used to be popular with people looking for an escape from the big capital city, was completely liberated on 3 April 2022, following weeks of hard-fought battles between Ukrainian and Russian forces.

Bucha was the first settlement in Ukraine that exposed numerous war crimes that Russian soldiers committed, including extrajudicial killings of civilians, torture, and rape.