The impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine evident in parts of the country
In the City of Bucha, five monuments stand tall with the names of more than 400 residents, etched on silver plaques, who are believed to have been massacred by Russian forces during their two-month occupation of the city in 2022.
Visiting the Church of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called of All Saints and the Memorial to the Victims of the Russian Invasion in Bucha. Picture: Orrin Singh/ Eyewitness News
BUCHA, UKRAINE - The impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is evident in many parts of the country’s cities, towns and villages.
In the City of Bucha, five monuments stand tall with the names of more than 400 residents, etched on silver plaques, who are believed to have been massacred by Russian forces during their two-month occupation of the city in 2022.
But this physical reminder of death and destruction is also a gateway to generational trauma for its residents.
It’s been two years since Ukrainian University professor, Olena Shumakova, fled her city of Bucha with her daughters and husband.
For the first time this month, she returned to her once-besieged city only to be haunted.
Speaking to Eyewitness News at a monument dedicated to those killed in the Bucha massacre, she explained how hard it was during the invasion.
"Seven days no food, seven days no water, no help. Russian soldiers walking around the house. It’s terrible. Now it’s the first time I visited my Bucha because for two years I’ve been living in Britain and my kids have been living in Britain."
She recounted how the trauma affected her eight-year-old daughter.
"When she was eight years old, I took her to the hairdresser and she showed me a part of her hair and it was grey hair and she asked me: 'Have you seen this?'"
Shumakova says many people from Bucha who fled don't want to return because of the trauma that comes with being back home.