French Foreign Minister visits Orthodox Church in Bucha where Russian forces have been accused of killing civilians

Visiting an Orthodox church in the town of Bucha outside the capital Kyiv, where Russian forces have been accused of killing civilians, France’s new foreign minister Catherine Colonna told reporters: “This should never have happened. It must never happen again”.

She added that France will do “everything in its power” to restore peace, and hopes “legal proceedings are completed as quickly as possible, so that families can see their loved ones laid to rest in proper graves”, AFP reports.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna reacts as she and Andrii Holovine, priest of the Church of St. Andrew Pervozvannoho All Saints, enter the church at the site of a mass grave in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, near Kyiv.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna reacts as she and Andrii Holovine, priest of the Church of St. Andrew Pervozvannoho All Saints, enter the church at the site of a mass grave in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, near Kyiv. Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images

Since Russia’s invasion, Colonna is the highest ranking French official to visit Ukraine. Later, she is poised to meet with president Volodymyr Zelensky and her counterpart Dmytro Kuleba to discuss Russia’s blockage of Ukrainian ports and global food security.

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