On April 8, 2022, a cross-party delegation of members from the French National Assembly and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the United for Ukraine (U4U) group, accompanied by the NGO Stand With Ukraine, visited Kyiv at the invitation of the Ukrainian Embassy. The delegation included Raphaël Glucksmann, Nathalie Loiseau, Dominique Potier, Pierre Person, Frédéric Petit, and Mélanie Vogel. This visit was part of a broader mission comprising 30 parliamentarians from 11 EU countries, coinciding with a visit by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
The trip, organized just days after the liberation of Bucha, allowed the parliamentarians to witness the atrocities committed during the Russian occupation, particularly in Irpin, a city symbolizing the heroic resistance of Ukrainian forces.
The delegation paid their respects amid the ruins of Bucha, a site marked by torture, rape, and murders committed by the Russian army, visiting mass graves where hundreds of murdered civilians were buried. French forensic gendarmes were already on-site to support exhumation and identification efforts as part of an international investigation into these war crimes.
Before the February 24 invasion, Bucha was a peaceful suburb of fewer than 40,000 residents near Kyiv. The Russian army entered the town on February 27 and took control on March 5, trapping approximately 4,000 residents. Following the Russian withdrawal on March 31, the mayor announced the city’s liberation. Images of civilians killed in the streets shocked the world, and during his visit, President Volodymyr Zelensky described these acts as genocide.
In discussions with Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the European parliamentarians reiterated the urgency of arming Ukraine’s resistance and halting energy imports from Russia to end the Kremlin’s orchestrated terror. A joint declaration was drafted, underscoring European solidarity in the face of this war.
That same day, Ursula von der Leyen, deeply moved by the horrors she witnessed, stated to the press: “The unthinkable has happened here. We have seen the cruel face of Putin’s army.” Her words echoed those of the parliamentarians, all of whom were direct witnesses to the devastation in Bucha and Irpin.
