Two years ago, on March 31, 2022, the Russian army withdrew from Bucha, leaving behind hundreds of lifeless civilians. Today, the city is looking for a future.
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Just two years ago, the world discovered the massacres of Ukrainian civilians in Boutcha, a large suburb of kyiv. More than 500 residents murdered by the Russian army. Boutcha, however, today refuses this label of martyr city and is looking for a future, rebuilding at all costs to try to turn the page.
Dmitri has been renovating the neighborhood for 4 months. Insulate the facades, the foundations, replace all the windows of these homes riddled with bullets two years ago. The site manager is proud: “The country is still at war, but we are already getting back on our feet. These buildings are like my children: I see them growing up before my eyes.”
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“Soon it will be like new”
The new coating is modern: white and gray. From the outside, these small Soviet buildings are unrecognizable. But some people wonder. Serheï gets off his bike, his little dog with his paws resting on the handlebars. He has lived there forever: “It’s an old, dilapidated building. We should rather invest this money in the war effort! They change our windows, it doesn’t cost us anything, OK. But if Putin comes back, what’s the point? It’s better to “First, focus on winning. The rest, we’ll see later.”
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At the corner of these streets that had traveled around the world – corpses in one, charred tanks in the other – Ludmila finally breathes a little. “This whole renovation, for me, is like a new life”, she said, in the garden of her pavilion. The Russians occupied then burned her house and killed her husband : “But soon it will be as good as new, and even though terrible things have happened here, I want to stay here.”
Rebuild and remember
2,000 buildings in the Boutcha region have already been renovated. Funding ? The state, and the city at 90%, indicates Dmytro Tchetchuk, the deputy for renovation : “We want to be this symbol of rebirth and show an example to all of Ukraine that we can recover quickly!”
“We do not want Boutcha to remain a city in ruins, a martyr city. Of course, we will never forget what the Russians did here.”
Dmytro Tchetchuk, renovation assistantat franceinfo
Rebuild… and remember: the city has also just inaugurated a new place of memory, for its hundreds of victims. A compensation register is now available to all Ukrainians whose homes were destroyed during the Russian invasion. Established since Tuesday April 2 as part of the conference on Justice for Ukraine opened in The Hague, it has already brought together hundreds of requests.
“We want to be this symbol of rebirth”: two years after the Boutcha massacre, the city is rebuilding at all costs