Bucha to build new memorial at mass grave site to commemorate Russian occupation victims

Bucha will build a new memorial to document the city’s 33 days under Russian occupation in 2022, according to the city’s mayor Anatolii Fedoruk

The announcement came during events marking the third anniversary of the city’s liberation, which revealed evidence of widespread civilian killings.

Local authorities reported finding 458 bodies, with 419 showing signs of violent death, including shooting, torture, and execution. The victims included nine children under the age of 18.

Photographic and video evidence revealed civilians with hands bound, shot at close range, and bodies mutilated or burned, corroborated by witness accounts of systematic killings, torture, and rape by Russian soldiers. The international community strongly condemned the massacre, leading to Russia’s suspension from the UN Human Rights Council.

German intelligence assessments, based on intercepted communications, suggest the killings were potentially part of a deliberate strategy to intimidate Ukrainian civilians rather than isolated incidents

“This space will tell the story of the occupation not through numbers or dates, but through form, materials and silence,” Fedoruk said when describing the winning design by Urban Design team.

The memorial’s central feature will be an inverted structure symbolizing residents’ upturned lives, complemented by a corridor that takes visitors underground before returning them to light, representing the journey “from fear to hope.”

An artificial reservoir surrounded by plaques bearing victims’ names will complete the installation.

The site will be located on the grounds of St. Andrew the Apostle and All Saints Church, near where 116 residents were buried in a mass grave in 2022. This location carries particular significance as evidence of atrocities first emerged after Ukrainian forces liberated Bucha.

Ukrainians largely criticized the project in the comments under the Mayor’s post, saying that more government’s money should better be directed towards military needs on the front line instead of building a memorial that might be damaged during Russian drone and missile attacks. The commentators suggested that the memorial would be a good idea after the war ends in Ukraine.