Burned corpses and cars are seen on the road in Kyiv Oblast on April 2, 2022. (Getty Images)
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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)
Russian forces have deployed Shahed-type "kamikaze" drones carrying toxic substances to attack Ukraine, the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council said on April 16.
A South Korean think tank suggests North Korea prefers "in-kind and technical assistance" that enhances its own defense industry and supports its long-term strategic goals.
"We have now agreed with the U.S. side to affirm this positive development by a relevant memorandum of intent — we are preparing a formal conclusion of the deal in the near future," Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said.
The funds are part of a broader 200 million euros (around $227 million) initiative co-financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The Trump administration officials are dissatisfied with European countries' ongoing support for Ukraine, underscoring the growing rift between Washington and Europe, the Economist reported on April 15, citing undisclosed diplomatic sources.
According to the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the agent network operated across four regions and was planning to target residential neighborhoods and a Ukrainian military base with explosives.
Russia's 112th Missile Brigade, along with the 448th Missile Brigade, was involved in a deadly missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy on April 13, which killed at least 35 civilians, Ukraine's intelligence said.
The surge in convictions in 2024 marks a 76% year-over-year increase, reflecting growing internal discipline issues within Russia's armed forces during the country's ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russian attacks across Ukrainian regions killed at least one civilian and injured at least 27 over the past day, regional authorities reported on April 16.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to meet directly with French President Emmanuel Macron, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio will hold separate discussions with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.
The case concerned Antonina Favorskaya, Artem Krieger, Sergey Karelin, and Konstantin Gabov, who were said to be producing video content for Navalny-affiliated YouTube channels, including the Navalny Live platform.
"When the teams are ready, they will present what they have worked out. So far, both sides have ended the meetings in a positive mood," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Bulgaria's deputy prime minister and chairman of the co-ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Atanas Zafirov, announced the news, arguing that Sofia needs to develop its nuclear energy capacities.
Negotiations on Black Sea security are underway in Ankara and could shape the region’s post-war stability, President Volodymyr Zelensky said during an April 15 press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Odesa.
The Ukrainian documentary Militantropos has been selected for the "Directors' Fortnight" program at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, festival organizers announced on April 15.
"There is an incentive for Russia to end this war and perhaps that could be economic partnerships with the United States," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on April 15.
Russia will launch a new program called the Digoria Political Education Workshop to provide "ideological training" to personnel who work with youth, a source in the Kremlin told Russian state media.
These countries have shown "high aggressiveness" towards Russia and are "constantly rattling their weapons," Russia's Foreign Intelligence Director Sergey Naryshkin said on April 15.
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