What is known about the atrocities in Bucha

Horrific images of hundreds of civilians killed are being broadcast around the world from Bucha in Ukraine. What is known about the massacre? What do Russia and Ukraine say about this? An overview.

Hundreds of bodies were discovered there after Russian troops withdrew from the Kiev suburb of Bucha.

Eyewitnesses report the targeted killing of civilians by Russian soldiers. Journalists who were there report the same thing and submitted photos and videos.

Journalists from the AP news agency in Bucha saw the bodies of at least nine people in civilian clothes, who appeared to have been killed at close range. At least two had their hands tied behind their backs. The AP reporters also saw two bodies wrapped in plastic and tied together with duct tape lying in a ditch. A Reuters reporter reported the body of a man by the side of the road with his hands tied behind his back and a gunshot wound to the head. The British BBC reports something similar in a film from Bucha.

There are also reports from several local residents. “People were running on the street and they were just shot down,” says one. “They just shot without asking any questions.” A video recording shows bodies every few meters on a street in the small town with a population of 27,000.

The human rights organization Human Rights Watch published a report on outright executions based on eyewitness accounts. This includes the shooting of a man on March 4 in Bucha, in the first days of the war.

What does Ukraine say?

Ukraine blames Russian troops for the massacre and accuses them of atrocities against the civilian population. The public prosecutor has announced investigations. More than 50 members of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the National Police began an initial investigation.

“This is hell that needs to be documented so that the monsters who created it can be punished,” Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova wrote on Facebook. Authorities in Ukraine said they were documenting evidence to prosecute Russian war crimes officials. To convict them, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) will need to demonstrate a pattern of atrocities against civilians during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks of a genocide and warns that with the recapture of other areas by Russian troops, further atrocities could be revealed. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called for tougher sanctions against Russia over mounting evidence of atrocities committed against civilians. The Mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, speaks of a genocide with regard to the events in Bucha and other suburbs of the capital compared to the “Bild”.

What does Russia say?

Russia is calling for a special session of the UN Security Council on Monday in the face of war crimes allegations. The Defense Ministry in Moscow rejects allegations of atrocities against civilians in the Kyiv area and denies the killing of civilians by Russian soldiers. “During the period when the settlement was under the control of the Russian armed forces, not a single resident suffered from any acts of violence,” the statement said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the shooting of the dead civilians was “ordered” to blame Russia. She writes on Telegram: “The idea behind the next crime by the ‘Kyiv regime’ is to disrupt the peace negotiations and escalate violence.”

How is the West reacting?

The pictures from Butscha caused international horror. Many states condemned the events, calling them war crimes or calling for investigations to be carried out as war crimes.

Germany announced tougher sanctions against Russia. “We will decide on further measures in the circle of allies in the next few days,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, himself under pressure because of his alleged earlier closeness to Russia, speaks of “war crimes” as does Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pointed out that the US had long assumed that serious war crimes were being committed in Ukraine. This is a “reality that is happening every day as long as Russia’s brutality against Ukraine continues. That’s why it must end.”

The EU accuses the Russian army of atrocities. The European Union supports Ukraine in documenting war crimes, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell tweeted. He was shocked. The Vice President of the European Parliament, Nicola Beer, called for a “special war criminals tribunal similar to the Yugoslav wars” against those responsible.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply shocked” by the atrocities. “It is essential that an independent investigation leads to effective accountability,” the UN chief said in a statement.

The human rights organization Human Rights Watch also accuses the Russian army of war crimes such as executions and looting.