Investigating Russian crimes in Bucha: Identifying those responsible

 

We speak with Arie Mora, a lawyer at an NGO called the Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group, which is a member of an alliance of human rights organizations called the Ukraine 5AM Coalition. They collect and document war crimes, and crimes against humanity committed during Russia's armed aggression in Ukraine.

Caught On Camera, Traced By Phone: The Russian Military Unit That Killed Dozens In Bucha

 

 

When videos and photos emerged in April showing bodies of dozens of civilians strewn along a street in Bucha, Ukrainians and the rest of the world voiced horror and outrage. But in Russia, officials had a completely different reaction: denial.

President Vladimir V. Putin dismissed the gruesome scene as “a provocation,” and claimed that the Russian Army had nothing to do with it.

But an eight-month visual investigation by The New York Times concluded that the perpetrators of the massacre along Yablunska Street were Russian paratroopers from the 234th Air Assault Regiment led by Lt. Col. Artyom Gorodilov.

Ukrainians Identify Bodies in Bucha | Russia-Ukraine War

 

Following the withdrawal of Russian forces from a Kyiv suburb, officials examined and documented the bodies of those who lost their lives in the war. “We’ll bury them, like humans,” the director of ritual services said.

The Horrors Russia Left Behind | Russia-Ukraine War

 

After weeks of heavy fighting in Kyiv’s suburbs, residents who had been in hiding returned to the streets to find damage and carnage — land mines, bullet holes and corpses.

Ukraine war: Bucha massacre is a game changer - Ukraine foreign minister

 

 

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has told the BBC's HARDtalk that the “Bucha massacre is a game changer”. Citing more than 400 civilian deaths, he said that “the Bucha massacre should remove any kind of hesitation and reluctance in the West to provide Ukraine with all necessary weapons…and the same goes for sanctions”.