Recent images from the town of Bucha just outside Kyiv, captured as Ukrainian forces regained ground following the retreat of Russian forces, show widespread destruction and corpses in civilians clothes strewn across streets. These images have been shared on social media and broadcast by members of the international press who have visited the town in recent days. Initial reports from human rights organisations on the actions of Russian forces have detailed violence targeting civilians. Interviews with local residents, meanwhile, have accused Russian troops of carrying out summary executions of unarmed men over suspicions they had fought for Ukrainian armed forces in the Donbas in 2014, or even “simply for having a tattoo of Ukraine’s national emblem”. Russian officials have pushed back against these claims. On April 3 the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a statement, later republished by the Russian Ministry of Defence, that claimed unequivocally that “the photos and video footage from Bucha are another hoax, a staged production and provocation by the Kiev regime for the Western media”, using the Russian spelling for the Ukrainian capital. Under the heading “Facts”, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed in its Telegram post that “not a single local resident has suffered from any violent action” before citing the delivery of humanitarian aid by Russian soldiers. They also claimed local people were free to move throughout the time Russian forces occupied the town.
via bellingcat: Russia’s Bucha “Facts” Versus the Evidence