Disinfo: Videos from Ukrainian town Bucha are context-and-evidence-free

Summary

The photos and videos from the Ukrainian town of Bucha that have been posted by the Kiev authorities are "context-and-evidence-free," American journalist and lawyer Glenn Greenwald, who assisted whistleblower Edward Snowden in leaking information about global public surveillance programs, wrote on Twitter.

"It's very alarming watching people who should know better see a few photo and video snippets posted by one of the governments fighting the war, then let their valid emotional revulsion lead them to proclaim it's time for WW3. Nobody is immune to social media's manipulations," Greenwald pointed out, commenting on calls made by some US media outlets in connection with the videos, which, according to Kiev, prove Russian troops’ crimes in Bucha.

"In stark contrast to the Twitter experts eager to start WW3 by emotionally demanding that the US go to war with Russia due to horrifying yet context-and-evidence-free photos and videos posted by Ukrainian officials, the NYT [New York Times] commendably applies skepticism," the journalist added. The New York Times said in its article that "it was unable to independently verify the assertions of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry and other officials."

Disproof

Pro-Kremlin disinformation obfuscating atrocities against Ukrainian civilians committed by the Russian armed forces in Bucha, in the vicinity of Kyiv. Amplification of recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the looming WW3.

Accounts of killings of civilians in Bucha have been collected by the Human Rights Watch:

On March 4, Russian forces in Bucha, about 30 kilometers northwest of Kyiv, rounded up five men and summarily executed one of them. A witness told Human Rights Watch that soldiers forced the five men to kneel on the side of the road, pulled their T-shirts over their heads, and shot one of the men in the back of the head. “He fell [over],” the witness said, “and the women [present at the scene] screamed.”

See also here.

The videos and images showing bodies of killed civilians on the streets of Bucha have been compared against satellite images by independent media, showing that Ukrainian civilians were killed during the time of Russian occupation. (For additional debunk see also the Insider).

The President of Ukraine, who visited the liberated town of Bucha, said:

"These are war crimes and they will be recognized by the world as genocide. We are aware of thousands of people killed and tortured, with their limbs cut off. Raped women, murdered children. I believe this is genocide"

The European Union has condemned in the strongest possible terms the reported atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces.

There is no basis to claim, that the international reaction to the evidence of Russian atrocities against Ukrainian civilians seeks to incite WW3. The European Union 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. See earlier disinformation claims about the imminent WW3. See related disinformation claim that the West is spreading fakes about Russian atrocities in Bucha.

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tass.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 278
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 04/04/2022
  • Article language(s) English
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Ukraine
  • Keywords: WWIII, War crimes, War in Ukraine
see more

Disinfo: Ukrainian authorities turned a blind eye toward Nazi groups

Kyiv has turned a blind eye to openly neo-Nazi groups and embedded them in the power structure of the country. For many years the Nazis were completely free from any danger and persecution. They were free to do as they pleased. It was not only in Western Ukraine, where they traditionally did this, but it started to spread throughout the country.

Apr 03, 2022
Disproof

A recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Nazi Ukraine, presented as justification for Russian military aggression against Ukraine, which started on 24 February 2022. In reality, Ukraine is not a Nazi state and Nazism is not Ukraine’s ideology.

The myth of Nazi-ruled Ukraine has been the cornerstone of Russian disinformation about the country since the very beginning of the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests, when it was used to discredit the pro-European popular uprising in Kyiv and, subsequently, the broader pro-Western shift in Ukraine's foreign policy.

Disinfo: The West is spreading fakes about Russian atrocities in Bucha

Western and Ukrainian media and politicians are spreading another fake about the alleged killings of civilians by the Russian military in the Kiev city of Bucha. A number of foreign publications, including Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and the BBC Russian Service, simultaneously issued notes about Bucha, from which Russian troops left on March 30, early on Sunday morning [...]

Notes about Bucha appeared in several foreign publications at once, which looks like a planned media campaign. Moreover, given that the Russian Armed Forces left the city on March 30, it is not clear why these frames were made public four days later, writes the War on Fake Telegram channel.

“ The video with the bodies is bewildering ... At the 30th second in the rearview mirror, the “corpse” sits down. The bodies in the video seem to have been deliberately laid out in order to create a more dramatic picture. This is clearly visible if the video is played at a speed of 0.25 of normal,” the message says.

Apr 03, 2022
Disproof

Pro-Kremlin disinformation obfuscating atrocities against Ukrainian civilians committed by the Russian armed forces in Bucha, in the vicinity of Kyiv.

Russia's claims that video footage showing dead bodies on the streets of Bucha is staged have been fact-checked and debunked by the BBC, Bellingcat, The Atlantic Council, Mediazona, The Insider, and others.

Disinfo: Kyiv's accusations of killings in Bucha are a provocation

The materials presented by the Ukrainian authorities, allegedly confirming the "crimes" of Russian troops in Bucha, are yet another provocation, the Defense Ministry [of Russia] said. [...]

They stressed that for the entire time the point was under the control of the Russians, not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions. [...]

All the bodies of people whose images were published by the Kiev regime, after at least four days, were not in rigor mortis, did not have characteristic cadaver spots, and the blood was not clotted in their wounds.

Apr 03, 2022
Disproof

Pro-Kremlin disinformation obfuscating atrocities against Ukrainian civilians committed by the Russian armed forces in Bucha, in the vicinity of Kyiv.

Russia's claims that video footage showing dead bodies on the streets of Bucha is staged have been fact-checked and debunked by the BBC, Bellingcat, The Atlantic Council, Mediazona, the Insider and others.