DISINFO: The Russian army has nothing to do with the provocation in Bucha
SUMMARY
There was a serious breakthrough at the talks between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, but then Russia faced a provocation in Bucha. The Russian army has nothing to do with the events in Bucha, Moscow knows who is behind this provocation.
RESPONSE
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.
The material and links may contain distressing/graphic content.
Russia's claims that video footage showing dead bodies on the streets of Bucha is staged have been fact-checked and debunked by the Bellingcat, The Atlantic Council, Mediazona, the Insider and others.
Evidence of Russian atrocities in Bucha is overwhelming. Several executions and shooting of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha were recorded in video by witnesses and Ukrainian drones. Satellite images show that some of the corpses were already lying on the streets weeks before the Russian withdrawal. Incriminatory radio conversations by Russian troops were intercepted and released by German intelligence. Dozens of Bucha survivors have been interviewed by world-class international outlets, including The New York Times, BBC, The Washington Post, Associated Press, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, Radio France Internationale, Al Jazeera or El País. Ukrainian forensic teams are uncovering further evidence of these Russian war crimes. Other false allegations denying Russian involvement in the Bucha massacres were further debunked by some of those international outlets like Deutsche Welle, El País or France24. Furthermore, a similar pattern of Russian war crimes is emerging in places like Borodyanka, Chernihiv, Hostomel and others.
New evidence on how Russian soldiers executed civilians in Bucha was published on 19 May 2022.
Killings, rape and other crimes against civilians have been collected by the Human Rights Watch. According to Bucha’s mayor Anatoly Fedoruk at least 280 people have been buried in mass graves by the Russian army.
The European Union has condemned in the strongest possible terms the reported atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces. The EU called for accountability for human rights and international law violations by the Russian Armed Forces, including full support for the investigation launched by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Read more about the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine along with EU vs Disinfo's Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War.
See other disinformation claims, alleging that videos from Ukrainian town Bucha are context-and-evidence-free, that Bucha is a provocation aiming to derail Russia-Ukraine negotiations in Istanbul, that the West is spreading fakes about Russian atrocities in Bucha and that Western media have decided that Russia is guilty in Bucha despite the lack of evidence.