Disinfo: The massacre is Bucha was fake, just like chemical attacks by Assad in Syria

This is a disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin media denying the involvement of Russian troops in a massacre in the town of Bucha near Kyiv, while also denying the responsibility of the Assad regime for chemical attacks perpetrated during the Syrian civil war.

In reality, there is plenty of evidence about Russian involvement in the massacre in which dozens of civilians were found in a mass grave. It is not a final estimate because investigations are still underway. Killings, rape and other crimes against civilians were registered in Bucha. Even though a detailed report of what happened in Bucha is not yet available, videos shot on the ground show dozens of corpses left on the sides of the streets. According to Bucha’s mayor Anatoly Fedoruk, at least 280 people have been buried in mass graves by the Russian army.

Satellite images of Bucha appear to show bodies lying in the street nearly two weeks before the Russians left the town. An image from 19 March, first reported by the New York Times and confirmed by the BBC, directly contradicts the Kremlin’s claim that the footage of bodies that has emerged in recent days was "staged" after the Russians withdrew. The image shows objects that appear to be bodies in the exact locations where they were subsequently found by Ukrainian forces when they regained control of the town north of Kyiv.

As stated by the European Digital Media Observatory in its factcheck about the Bucha massacre:

"The original footage we analysed unequivocally shows that the victims in Bucha are real, and indicate that Russian troops are responsible for killing innocent civilians. It was not a “provocation” by Ukraine or orchestrated by the West".

Initial reports from human rights organisations on the actions of Russian forces have detailed violence targeting civilians. Interviews with local residents, meanwhile, have accused Russian troops of carrying out summary executions of unarmed men over suspicions they had fought for Ukrainian armed forces in the Donbas in 2014.

Contrary to the article's claims, videos and photographs from Bucha, are showing deceased individuals in civilian clothes. These first appeared on social media channels on April 1.

This would again run counter to Russian claims of such evidence not appearing until April 3. For example a video shared on Telegram at 6:18pm BST (8:18pm in Ukraine) and a video shared on Twitter at 9:02pm BST on April 1 show dead bodies lying on Yablunska Street in Bucha. Other videos from the same street published between April 1 and April 2 can be found here. All videos show the same sections of the street, with the same corpses and wreckage visible in the same position.

Furthermore on the morning of April 1, a video was shared on Telegram featuring the secretary of the Bucha City Council, Taras Shapravsky, stating: “Currently, the city remains under occupation, many mines, houses and even corpses. Therefore, we ask those who remain not to approach dangerous objects. The liberation of the city continues, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, territorial defence are working to regain every metre of native land”.

Regarding chemical attack in Syria: In September 2017, the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic summarised 33 separate incidents where it had found use of chemical weapons. Since then there have been several additional suspected chemical attacks. Between March 2013 and March 2017, the Commission documented 25 incidents of chemical weapons use in the Syrian Arab Republic, of which 20 were perpetrated by government forces and used primarily against civilians.

See the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine here along with EU vs Disinfo's Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War.

See also on Bucha here.