This comparison shows Vokzal’na Street, in Bucha, a municipality near Kyiv, Ukraine, in two photographs taken 13 days apart following the withdrawal of Russian troops after a month of occupation.

In the first photograph, taken on April 2, 2022, a column of Russian armored vehicles is seen destroyed by a Ukrainian army attack during the battles that took place in this town during the early weeks of the full-scale invasion launched by the Russian army in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. In the second photograph, we see the same street 13 days later, on April 15, 2022, after Ukrainian authorities removed the vehicles and the street had been cleared.

The city of Bucha, very close to Kyiv, will go down in history as one of the symbols of the atrocities perpetrated by Russian forces during the invasion of Ukraine. As the days passed after the withdrawal of Russian soldiers from this town, which was taken in the early stages of the war, details emerged of the executions, murders, and abuses that occurred during the month of occupation.

Around half a thousand civilians were killed in this residential area; about 3,500 people were trapped and endured a month of violence, fear, bombings, and the lack of electricity, water, and heating. The International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into possible war crimes.

2 April 2022: Santi Palacios for Sonda Internacional
15 April 2022: Santi Palacios for Sonda Internacional