The president made the statement during a speech in Bucha, on the third anniversary of the town’s liberation from Russian occupation. The event was also attended by a delegation of European MPs. Bucha has become the symbol of Russia’s barbaric aggression against Ukraine, with Russian troops killing hundreds of unarmed civilians during its weeks-long occupation in early 2022.
“We will not forgive Russian crimes or this war because forgiveness would mean accepting that the current Russian system has a right to exist and expand at the expense of other peoples—a system that feeds on human suffering,” Zelenskyy said.
“We will undoubtedly defend Ukraine, and we must restore justice. Russia must be held accountable for this war.”
He added that Ukraine and its citizens “remember every Russian strike.”
“We remember what the Russian occupiers did in Bucha, Yahidne, and Mariupol,” the president continued.
“Everyone sees what happened to Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Vuhledar, and many other towns and villages that have essentially ceased to exist. Nothing remains but ruins—the inevitable result when the Russian flag is raised. We remember every Russian strike. We remember how they executed our captured soldiers in Olenivka and tormented detainees in a detention center in Donetsk that came to symbolize the ‘Russian world.”
“Among the most powerful symbols of the Russian system and its war against Ukraine are the graves of ordinary people in the yards of their homes. This will never be forgotten. These man-made disasters and crimes are the work not only of the Russian state but also of individual occupiers, each with a name.”