In the spring of 2022, was subject to a brutal invasion by Russian forces. The initial battle for the town, perched on the eastern outskirts of civilians killed. Moscow’s troops still stand accused of committing a litany of war crimes throughout the month-long occupation that followed.
But now its devastated streets have become a summer holiday hotspot – at least for a certain cache of tourists. Bucha has drawn in visitors as a so-called “dark tourism” site, one of many places around the world which attract people for the tragic or sinister events associated with them. Such landmarks make up a macabre global industry worth £25 billion by some estimates.
At least a dozen companies now offer tours of Bucha as well as Irpin, where at least 290 civilians were murdered by Russian forces, and other formerly . Curious visitors began arriving almost as soon as the areas were liberated from Russia’s control, it seems. “I was scared in the beginning because I was uncertain what it would be like, and there were always sirens and alarms every day,” says 29-year-old Stephan, from Germany, who visited Bucha in August 2022, just five months after Russian forces withdrew from the town.
“You would just see a few rockets intercepted by air defence, and you would never know what could happen.” Stephan, who runs a YouTube channel called My Expat Diary, which features videos about his trips to as well as more typical holiday destinations like Japan, Greece and Europe, made his .