Burned corpses and cars are seen on the road in Kyiv Oblast on April 2, 2022. (Getty Images)
April 4 marks 40 days of Russia's barbarous war in Ukraine.
The extent of Russia's cruelty against Ukrainians, however, was discovered just two days ago.
On April 2, Ukrainian forces regained control of Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv, revealing the many horrific atrocities of Russia's weeks-long occupation.
Hundreds of civilian residents were found dead on the streets, by their homes and in mass graves.
Following one of the darkest days of the war, one that truly shocked the Ukrainian nation and the whole world, President Volodymyr Zelensky gave the kind of address that "presidents don't usually give."
"Concentrated evil has come to our land," he said. "Murderers, butchers, rapists, looters, who call themselves an army and who deserve only to die after what they have done."
Since Moscow unleashed its all-out war on Ukraine on Feb. 24, at least 1,232 civilian Ukrainians have been killed, according to the United Nations. The actual figures, however, are expected to be much higher, as casualties from front-line areas aren't counted due to a lack of data.
At least 161 children have been killed and 264 injured by Russia's war, according to Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office.
Bodies lie on a street in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, as Ukrainian forces retook control of the town on April 2, 2022 following weeks of Russian occupation. (AFP via Getty Images)A cyclist rides past buildings on fire following an artillery fire in Kharkiv, a regional capital in northeastern Ukraine, on March 25, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)Rescuers remove rubble from the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration building where at least 35 people were killed by a Russian cruise missile attack on April 1, 2022, in Mykolaiv, a regional capital in southern Ukraine. (The Washington Post/Getty Images)A partially buried body is seen in a mass grave in the town of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, on April 3, 2022. Hundreds of killed civilians were found in the town after Ukrainian forces retook it following weeks of Russian occupation. (AFP/Getty Images)President Volodymyr Zelensky (C) walks in the town of Bucha, just northwest of Kyiv, the site of Russia's massacre of civilian residents, on April 4, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)Communal workers and volunteers build a protective structure around a monument to the poet Taras Shevchenko in Kyiv on April 3, 2022. (Getty Images)A woman hugs a volunteer fighting with the Territorial Defense Force after the Russian troop withdrawal from the Nova Basan village in Chernihiv Oblast on April 1, 2022. (Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the 64th Annual Grammy Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 3, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Getty Images for The Recording Academy)The newlyweds, medical volunteers Nastya Gracheva and Anton Sokolov, pose for a photograph in a ruined courtyard of a shopping and business complex in central Kharkiv on April 3, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)A resident walks in front of a destroyed building in Trostyanets, Sumy Oblast, on March 29, 2022. (AFP via Getty Images)U.S. President Joe Biden kisses a child while meeting refugees of Russia's war against Ukraine at PGE Narodowy Stadium in Warsaw, Poland on March 26, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)An ostrich walks on the destroyed enclosure at an eco-park in Yasnohorodka, a village north of Kyiv on April 2, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)A young girl sits on a suitcase at a train station in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, on April 3, 2022. (AFP/Getty Images)A destroyed column of Russia's military vehicles is seen on the highway near Buzova village in Kyiv Oblast on April 3, 2022. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)The family of Ukrainian soldier Ivan Lipskiy grieves at his casket during a funeral of five Ukrainian soldiers in Odesa on March 29, 2022. Lipskiy was killed on March 18 during a Russian air strike that hit the 36th Ukrainian Naval Infantry Brigade killing more than 40 Ukrainian soldiers in Mykolaiv. (The Washington Post/Getty Images)
Explosions rocked Kharkiv, Kamianske, and Dnipro as Russia launched waves of missiles, drones, and guided aerial bombs overnight on July 26. Kharkiv's Kyviskyi district has been hit twice by ballistic missiles.
Ukrainians on July 25 participated in mass protests against a controversial new law impacting anti-corruption agencies for the fourth day in a row. President Zelensky earlier addressed criticism of the law, saying there should have been a dialogue between parliament and society before its adoption.
EU member states will not likely agree to push the ban up a year, but officials could use the demand as leverage in the upcoming negotiations, European diplomats told Reuters.
While Turkish media earlier reported that Erdogan was arranging a meeting between Putin and Trump, the president's office later clarified that he was referring to an in-person meeting with Putin and President Volodymyr Zelensky.
While Belgrade has not joined EU sanctions against Moscow, the decision reflects economic pragmatism rather than political alignment, Serbian European Integration Minister Nemanja Starovic said.
Ukraine needs to cover a $40 billion annual deficit, while domestic military production – namely missiles, drones, and electronic warfare systems – requires $25 billion yearly to operate properly, the president told journalists in Kyiv.
"We're looking at that whole situation. It could be that we'll have to impose secondary sanctions on you," he said, adding "maybe" when asked whether they could come sooner than 50 days.
Interceptors are designed to detect, track, and neutralize other drones or aerial threats — a capability Ukraine sees as increasingly vital to defend cities from Russian barrages.
Ukraine had aimed to receive 4.5 billion euros ($5.2 billion) in the fourth installment, the largest so far, but will instead receive 3.05 billion euros ($3.5 billion).
