DISINFO: Kyiv's accusations of killings in Bucha are a provocation
SUMMARY
The materials presented by the Ukrainian authorities, allegedly confirming the "crimes" of Russian troops in Bucha, are yet another provocation, the Defense Ministry [of Russia] said. [...]
They stressed that for the entire time the point was under the control of the Russians, not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions. [...]
All the bodies of people whose images were published by the Kiev regime, after at least four days, were not in rigor mortis, did not have characteristic cadaver spots, and the blood was not clotted in their wounds.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation obfuscating atrocities against Ukrainian civilians committed by the Russian armed forces in Bucha, in the vicinity of Kyiv.
Russia's claims that video footage showing dead bodies on the streets of Bucha is staged have been fact-checked and debunked by the BBC, Bellingcat, The Atlantic Council, Mediazona, the Insider and others.
Accounts of violence against 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 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. The EU 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 a related disinformation claim, alleging that videos from Ukrainian town Bucha are context-and-evidence-free