???? Live: One year on, Ukraine’s Bucha remembers its victims and tries to rebuild

Issued on: 31/03/2023 – 09:02

7:14am: One year on, Ukraine remembers Bucha victims and starts to rebuild

Ukraine on Friday marks one year since Russia withdrew from the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, leaving the bodies of executed civilians strewn in the streets in what has become a symbol of alleged Russian war crimes.

Russian forces withdrew from the commuter town northwest of the capital on March 31, 2022, just over a month after President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine.

In their wake, they left behind scenes of horror that shocked the world.

AFP journalists on April 2 discovered the bodies of at least 20 people in civilian clothing, some with their hands tied behind their backs, lying in a street of the suburb.

During a visit to Bucha two days later, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky described the killings of civilians as “genocide”. Click on the video report below to learn more. 

01:51

4:45am: Japan bans steel, aircraft exports to Russia in latest sanctions on Ukraine war

Japan is banning Russia-bound exports of steel, aluminium and aircraft, including drones, in its latest sanctions against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the trade ministry said on Friday.

The measure, which also prohibits Japanese entities from exporting a wide variety of industrial items such as construction machinery, ship engines, testing equipment and optical devices to Russia, will go into effect on April 7, the ministry said in a statement.

12:50am: Turkish parliament ratifies Finland’s NATO accession as Sweden kept waiting

Turkey’s parliament approved a bill on Thursday to allow Finland to join NATO, clearing the way for the country to become part of the Western defence alliance as war rages in Ukraine.

The Turkish parliament was the last among the 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland’s membership after Hungary’s legislature approved a similar bill earlier this week.

President Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in March that Finland had secured Turkey’s blessing after taking concrete steps to keep promises to crack down on groups seen by Ankara as terrorists, and to free up defence exports.

Finland and Sweden asked to join NATO last year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the process has been held up by Turkey and Hungary. The parliaments of all NATO members must ratify newcomers.

Key developments from Thursday, March 30:

A US reporter for The Wall Street Journal newspaper was detained in Russia for espionage, Russian news agencies reported Thursday, citing the FSB security service. Evan Gershkovich is “suspected of spying in the interests of the American government” and of collecting information “on an enterprise of the Russian military-industrial complex”, Russian news agencies reported. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the charges “ridiculous” and said that “the targeting of American citizens by the Russian government is unacceptable”. Gershkovich pleaded not guilty to the espionage charges in a court appearance on Thursday afternoon. Moscow’s Lefortovo district court then ordered that he be held in pre-trial detention until May 29. 

Europe’s security has come under threat amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Britain’s King Charles III told German MPs, adding, however, that “we can draw courage from our unity”.

At least six Russian missiles hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv late on Thursday night, and officials are gathering details about damage and casualties, regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said.

>> Read our live blog for all of yesterday’s developments as they unfolded.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)