Bucha After Russian Occupation: Bucha’s Mayor on the Destruction of His City and Hopes for the Future

Monday, Jan. 30 // 12:30–1:30 pm (ET)

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Bucha was a quiet residential community of some 50,000 people on the outskirts of Kyiv. Russian forces began their assault on the town on February 27 as part of their campaign to encircle Kyiv. By March 31, the Russians were in retreat from Bucha, leaving devastation and mass graves in their wake.

Bucha represents the world’s first definitive look at how the Russian military employs atrocity as a tactic. According to one official count, 458 bodies were recovered from the town’s ruin—with 419 bearing signs of torture, shooting, or other mass trauma.

Anatolii Fedoruk, Bucha’s mayor, went into hiding to coordinate assistance to those few thousand people remaining behind during the Russian occupation. His interviews with international media over the spring and summer of 2022 helped spread the word of Russian war crimes.

The Wilson Center and Ukraine Friends are honored to host Mayor Fedoruk and his team to the Wilson Center to provide an update on the town’s recovery and the status of the investigation of crimes committed during Russia’s occupation of Bucha.

Still To Come This Week

Euromissiles: The Nuclear Weapons that Nearly Destroyed NATO

Monday, Jan. 30 // 4–5:30 pm (ET)

In Euromissiles, Susan Colbourn follows the rise and fall of an arms race in Cold War Europe. At the center of the story Colbourn tells is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an alliance regularly divided and in disarray over the missiles. Colbourn illustrates the diverse and far-reaching consequences of the Euromissiles, touching on everything from nuclear strategy and international politics to grassroots activism and popular culture.

Responding to the Ukrainian Refugee Plight: The EU and US Perspectives

Wednesday, Feb. 1 // 10–11:00 am (ET)

This event from the Wilson Center's Refugee and Forced Displacement Initiative will discuss challenges in responding to the humanitarian situation of this scale, roles of various stakeholders in addressing the urgent and long-term needs of the displaced people, and lessons learnt from the European Union and US response to forced displacement.

Vaccinating the Americas – Lessons from Varicella Vaccination

Thursday, Feb. 2 // 11:00 am–12:30 pm (ET)

Join the Wilson Center, the Americas Health Foundation, and a panel of experts to discuss challenges and benefits of regular and widespread vaccination. With a focus on varicella, the conversation will address how governments can strengthen their public health systems to more inclusively, efficiently, and productively provide preventative care, including through vaccination.

Digging into Soil for Food Security and Climate: A Green Tea Chat With Rattan Lal, 2020 World Food Prize Winner

Friday, Feb. 3 // 9:30–10:00 am (ET)

As part of our Cultivating U.S. and Chinese Climate Leadership on Food and Agriculture, we are sitting down for a chat (with tea!) with the 2020 World Food Prize Winner Dr. Rattan Lal (OSU). He was awarded the prize for developing a soil-centric approach to increasing food production that conserves natural resources and mitigates climate change. We will be digging deep into the science and potential climate action around soil, particularly in the United States in China.