Zelensky vows 'never to forgive' Russia for Bucha

President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine will never forgive Russian troops responsible for atrocities in Bucha, as the town near Kyiv marked the anniversary of its recapture after more than a month of occupation.

- IVAN LYUBYSH-KIRDEY & GLEB GARANICH

Ukrainian forces took back control of the towns of Bucha and Irpin to the northwest of Kyiv in late March last year as Russian invasion forces abandoned their attempt to seize the capital.

"Russian evil will collapse right here in Ukraine, and will never be able to rise again. Humanity will prevail," Mr Zelensky said, leading a ceremony at which the Ukrainian flag was raised in Bucha. The president handed out medals to soldiers involved in recapturing the town, and relatives received medals on behalf of fallen soldiers who were awarded them posthumously. "When Bucha was de-occupied, we saw that the devil was not somewhere out there but on the ground. The heinous truth about what was happening in the temporarily occupied territories was revealed to the world," Zelensky said.

Images of dead bodies lying in the street were beamed across the world after Ukraine regained control. Moscow denies accusations of executions, rapes and torture by its occupying troops. Kyiv says more than 1,400 people were killed in Bucha during the occupation including 37 children, more than 175 people were found in mass graves and torture chambers, and 9,000 Russian alleged war crimes have been identified.