Towns and villages near Kyiv were among the first to encounter occupying enemy forces at the onset of the full-scale russian invasion. They witnessed violence, demoralisation, pain, and death.
On Saturday, 6 September 2025, the Media Center Directorate organised the inaugural historical tour entitled Heroic Kyiv Region for representatives of the foreign diplomatic corps. Staff from the embassies of Austria, Denmark, Mexico, Montenegro, Norway, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and Sweden joined the event, along with representatives from the EU, the UN, UNHCR, and the Progetto Arca organisation.
During the tour, diplomats visited Borodianka, Bucha, Irpin, and Moshchun — sites that endured atrocities under russian occupation and where tragic events unfolded in late winter and early spring, events that profoundly influenced the course of the russian-Ukrainian war.
The tour began at the local history museum Borodianka: 33 Days of Occupation and Resistance, which displays objects that brought death, destruction, pain, tears, and anguish to the town. In Bucha, diplomats visited the Church of Saint Andrew the First-Called, where a mass grave holds civilians who were shot and tortured. Together with the parish priest, Father Andrii, and local authorities, the visitors paid tribute to the victims by laying flowers at the burial site.
Next, diplomats visited Irpin, touring the car cemetery, the memorial complex at the former Karavan Hala checkpoint, the destroyed Central House of Culture, and Romaniv Bridge, whose photographs reached audiences around the world. On the second day of the full-scale invasion, 25 February 2022, Ukrainian soldiers destroyed the bridge to halt the occupiers’ advance, forcing residents from other towns to cross the Irpin River using a makeshift wooden passage. The bridge became a true ‘road of life’, and its remains serve as a symbol of the horrific events in Irpin during the russian offensive on Kyiv.
The tour concluded in the village of Moshchun, where participants honoured the defenders at the memorial Angels of Victory, dedicated to Ukrainian soldiers who fell defending not only the village but also Kyiv between 27 February and 25 March 2022. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and numerous heads of state repeatedly visited the village to pay respects to the fallen Heroes of Ukraine.
By visiting these sites of genocide, where the strength and resilience of the national spirit endured despite the horrors, foreign diplomats reaffirmed the unbreakable resolve of the Ukrainian people and their determination to eradicate evil from their land to secure the nation’s prosperity on its authentic territories. Accounts of the heroic resistance in Borodianka, Bucha, Irpin, and Moshchun once again recalled the atrocities of the russian-Ukrainian war and highlighted the courageous struggle of Ukrainians for independence.
