During the 33 days of occupation last year, Russian forces committed more than 9,000 war crimes in Kyiv Oblast's city of Bucha and its district, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin said on March 31.
"A year ago, Ukraine's Defense Forces liberated Bucha. Then we all saw for the first time evidence of the unprecedented scale of the enemy's atrocities," reads Kostin's Facebook post.
According to Kostin, more than 1,400 civilians, including 37 children, were killed by Russian troops in the area. Fifty-two more children were reportedly injured.
Over the past year, almost a hundred Russian soldiers were charged, and indictments regarding 35 have been sent to the court, the prosecutor general said.
Among them is a colonel-general, commander of Russia's Central Military District, who led the occupation of Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kyiv oblasts.
Two Russian servicemen were sentenced to 12 years in prison for illegal detention of civilians and looting, added Kostin.
"I am convinced that all these crimes are not a coincidence. This is part of Russia's planned strategy aimed at destroying Ukraine as a state and Ukrainians as a nation."
Ukrainian authorities will hold an international summit called "Bucha - Russia's responsibility for crimes in Ukraine," marking the one-year anniversary of Ukraine's liberation of the small town near Kyiv on March 31.
Among the participants are Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger, Slovenian PM Robert Golob, Croatian PM Andrej Plenkovic, and Moldovan President Maia Sandu, according to the Croatian government.
Illia Ponomarenko
(Updated: )
