«The Bucha Massacre. Marichka's Story». What is known about the painting that Zelensky gave to the Pope.

The meeting at the Vatican between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Pope Francis lasted 35 minutes, during which the Ukrainian president presented the Pope a painting dedicated to the events in Bucha during the Russian occupation in 2022. This was reported by the Italian news agency ANSA.

After a private conversation in the library hall and the presentation of the Ukrainian delegation, the Pope gave Zelensky a cast bronze bas-relief of a flower inscribed "Peace is a fragile flower." In turn, the Ukrainian president presented the Pope with a painting "The Bucha Massacre. Marichka's Story," the news agency writes.

The authors of the painting "The Bucha Massacre: Marichka's Story" are Volodymyr Kozyuk and Vladislav Zadvorsky. Volodymyr Kozyuk posted a description of the painting on his Facebook page:

Marichka stood and looked with empty eyes through the crowd gathered at the site of the tragedy. She had lost everything: her home, her family, her childhood. Before her eyes, her father, mother, grandmother were tortured and killed... Her hometown, Bucha, became a witness to inhuman atrocities that forever left scars on her soul.

Ukrainian soldiers, who liberated the city from Russian occupiers, tried to talk to her, to comfort her. But their words seemed distant, indistinct, like whispers through thick fog. Marichka simply could not accept the reality of what had happened.

In the streets of the city lay the dead and tortured people. Marichka saw their faces, their mutilated bodies. She knew that these memories would stay with her forever.

Marichka stood amidst the ruins of her life, among the fragments that were once her home. She knew that the world would never be the same again. But she also knew that in her heart burned an unwavering belief that Ukraine would be reborn, that truth and justice would prevail. This pain, these losses will never be forgotten, but they will become the foundation for a new, stronger Ukraine.

As is known, the Bucha Massacre, or the Bucha genocide, is the mass killing of Ukrainian civilians, accompanied by kidnappings, torture, rape, including of children, and looting. These crimes were committed by the armed forces and other formations of the Russian Federation during the Russian-Ukrainian war in March 2022.

Testimonies from witnesses and found evidence indicated that many people were killed with their hands tied behind their backs, confirming the atrocities committed by the occupiers. The mayor of Bucha reported that Russian soldiers shot civilians in the back of the head, ruthlessly and cold-bloodedly. What happened in Bucha will forever remain in the memory of Ukrainians and the whole world as a genocide.

We recall that in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with Pope Francis. The head of state thanked His Holiness for prayers for peace for Ukraine, spiritual closeness with Ukrainians, humanitarian aid, and the Vatican's participation in the first Peace Summit.

Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about the work on the implementation of the Peace Formula, particularly about the conference on the return of prisoners and deported Ukrainians, which will take place on October 30-31 in Canada at the ministerial level. He invited a representative of the Vatican to take part in this event.