Workers place a coffin in a grave during the burial of unidentified people killed during the weeks-long Russian occupation of Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, on Aug. 11, 2022. Russian forces occupied Bucha in the early stage of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, before abandoning their plan to seize Kyiv. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
Even with a semblance of normalcy returning to liberated areas around Kyiv, burial ceremonies continue for unidentified victims killed under Russian occupation early in the full-scale war.
Another 21 bodies of unidentified victims were buried in Bucha on Aug. 17. Instead of names, they were put to rest with number plates.
There are still more bodies to be buried.
A worker is carrying a cross during the burial of unidentified people who were killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha on Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
A worker places a cross atop a grave of an unidentified person killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha on Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
Ukrainian Orthodox priest Andrii Halavin performs a service during the burial of unidentified people killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha on Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
After Russian forces withdrew from the north of Ukraine in early April, evidence of summary executions, torture, and systematic looting during the weeks of occupation came to light. The killing of civilians in Bucha, a satellite town just northwest of Kyiv, became a symbol of the savagery of Russia's war.
According to the National Police of Ukraine, at least 461 people were killed in Bucha.
There are about 50 bodies that are still unidentified, including the ones that were already buried, according to Kyiv Oblast Governor Oleksiy Kuleba. He said that their DNA samples were taken out before they were brought to the graves.
Some of them were shot while fleeing their homes, others were killed in their yards, and some were tortured in basements, the official wrote on Telegram.
“These are ordinary people who were killed by the Russians for being Ukrainians,” Kuleba said.
The bodies of victims continue to be discovered on the outskirts of Kyiv.
Workers place a body of one of the unidentified persons who were killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha into a coffin on Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
Ukrainian Orthodox priest Andrii Halavin performs a service during the burial of unidentified people killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha on Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
A cross with a number for one of the unidentified persons who were killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha, on August 11, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine. Russian forces occupied Bucha for the first month of its assault on Ukraine, before abandoning its plan to seize the Ukrainian capital. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
Months after Russian troops withdrew from the region, local authorities began burying bodies of unidentified victims.
The first of such ceremonies was held on Aug. 9, where 15 bodies were buried on the outskirts of Kyiv under a grim, gray sky. Arriving in a refrigerator truck wrapped in plastic, the bodies were placed in wooden caskets and then buried in separate graves.
The 15 unidentified victims buried on Aug. 9 included 14 men and a woman, according to a media report. Advisor to Bucha mayor Mikhailina Skorik-Shkarovskay said that eight of the male victims were most likely tortured and shot, Suspilne media reported. There is also reportedly a skeleton of a man who was killed in a car and a body of a woman who reportedly burned in a car.
The next one followed on Aug. 11, with 11 more unidentified bodies found in Bucha laid torest. They were among the bodies excavated in a mass grave in front of the St. Andrew's church in Bucha, according to the city council.
Workers clean up the graves of unidentified people killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha on Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
Workers carry a coffin with the body of an unidentified person killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, on Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
Workers carry a coffin lid during the burial of unidentified people who were killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, on Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
Ukrainian Orthodox priest Andrii Halavin performs a service during the burial of unidentified people killed during the Russian occupation of Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, on Aug. 11, 2022. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
Over 1,300 civilians were killed in Kyiv Oblast during the Russian occupation, and Kyiv Oblast Police Chief Andriy Nebytov said in July that at least 700 of them were fatally shot with small arms.
About 300 people have been reported missing in Kyiv Oblast as of Aug. 1, according to Nebytov.
Asami Terajima is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent covering Ukrainian military issues, front-line developments, and politics. She is the co-author of the weekly War Notes newsletter. She previously worked as a business reporter for the Kyiv Post focusing on international trade, infrastructure, investment, and energy. Originally from Japan, Terajima moved to Ukraine during childhood and completed her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in the U.S. She is the winner of the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism 2023 (Local Reporter category) and the George Weidenfeld Prize, awarded as part of Germany's Axel Springer Prize 2023. She was also featured in the Media Development Foundation’s “25 under 25: Young and Bold” 2023 list of emerging media makers in Ukraine.
