After the disturbing reports of the Russian army massacre of civilians in the Kiev suburb of Bucha, Russia has denied any responsibility for the acts. A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the US and NATO of manipulation. The statements made by the West immediately after the publication indicated that “the news had been ordered,” said Maria Zakharova. This should damage Russia’s reputation.
“Who are the masters of provocation? The United States and NATO, of course,” Zakharova said in a television interview that aired late Sunday night.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also accused Ukraine of orchestrating the situation in Bucha. According to the news agency TASS, Lavrov says it is a “fictitious attack” with the aim of discrediting Russia.
Lavrov also calls on Britain to fulfill its duties in the UN Security Council. The country, which currently chairs the body, already rejected the Russian request to convene a Security Council meeting today, Monday. The meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday instead. Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, announced that he would “expose the Ukrainian provocateurs and their patron saints in the West.”
The Russian Presidential Office also categorically rejected all allegations. The facts and the timing of the events in Bucha do not correspond to the Ukrainian account, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Therefore, accusations from the Ukrainian side should be questioned and international politicians should not jump to conclusions.
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Russia’s investigative committee has already initiated proceedings for the dissemination of alleged false reports. Russia’s chief investigator Alexander Bastrykin has instructed the agency to criminalize “provocation by Ukraine,” the investigative committee said on its Telegram channel on Monday.
It is not determined because of the internationally condemned crime, but because of the publication of corresponding news. Defaming the Russian army is a criminal offense in the country. In early March, Russia’s State Duma passed a controversial law criminalizing “false news” about actions by the Russian military abroad.
According to Ukrainian media reports, well over 300 civilian bodies were recovered in Bucha. By Sunday evening, 330 to 340 lifeless bodies had already been collected, the newspaper Ukrajinska Pravda wrote on Monday, citing a funeral service. The search for more victims continued on Monday. Some bodies were buried in backyards, it said.
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The images from the capital’s suburban community, where numerous bodies of residents were found on the streets after Russian troops withdrew, caused international outrage.
On Sunday, the Ukrainian side had already reported the discovery of a mass grave with around 280 dead who could not have been buried with dignity during the Russian attacks. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office announced an autopsy of the bodies to solve the crime. International investigators are also to be involved. So far, the bodies of more than 400 dead civilians are said to have been recovered in the Kiev region. (Reuters, dpa)
