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."
RESPONSE
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.