DISINFO: The Bucha massacre was staged in order to prevent a diplomatic solution with Russia.

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: The Bucha massacre was staged in order to prevent a diplomatic solution with Russia.

SUMMARY

Russia and Ukraine (had) agreed in Istanbul on a mutually acceptable draft for a bilateral agreement (...). In order to create the conditions for the signing and implementation of this agreement, the withdrawal of Russian troops from the regions of Kiev, Zhitomir, Chernigov and Sumy began at the end of March 2022.

Boris Johnson's arrival in Kyiv was preceded by a staging in Bucha: the Western media spread the same story over and over again as if on cue: Russian soldiers had shot dozens of civilians there.

After taking note of Boris Johnson's advice, or rather his order, Volodymyr Zelensky refused any further diplomatic consultations with Russia. He confirmed the decision of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine of 30 September 2022, which prohibits contacts with the Russian leadership regarding de-escalation and conflict resolution.

RESPONSE

The material and links may contain distressing/ graphic content.

Recurrent denial of war crimes committed by Russian forces during the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine and denial of military retreat by an alleged “gesture of goodwill”.

The retreat of Russian forces took place because they were losing the battle for Kyiv. They needed massive reinforcements to take the capital that were not available. However, the Kremlin presented this as a “gesture of goodwill” to favour negotiations in Istanbul.

In December 2022 an investigation based on videos and telephone metadata of civilian devices stolen by Russian soldiers established the responsibility of a Russian regiment — and its commander — for the death of several dozens of civilians from Bucha.

Satellite images by Maxar Technologies from when Russian troops occupied Bucha on March 18 and 19 back up Bucha Mayor Fedoruk’s account of bodies in the streets, showing at least five bodies on one road.

See here for further debunking by POLYGAPH.info.

With regards to the narrative about Boris Johnson, this distorts an interview with Davit Arakhamia, the Chairman of the parliamentary faction of the ruling party of Ukraine. In the interview, Arakhamia himself denied the fact that the Ukrainian delegation was ready to sign the document and that Boris Johnson allegedly stopped them.

Based on Arakhamia’s statements, Western partners were kept informed about the negotiations and had access to the draft versions of the agreement. However, they did not make decisions for Ukraine but could only offer advice. Arakhamia clarified in his interview that Ukraine had already decided not to sign the document even before receiving advice from Boris Johnson. Read the full debunk of the story at Myth Detector.

Read also related cases: Bucha massacre was carried out by Ukrainian artillery, a French witness proved that the crimes in Bucha were organised by Ukraine, Kyiv created a new "Bucha" in the Kharkiv region, Alleged “mass graves” found in Izium are a Bucha-like provocation of Ukraine and In 2022 Boris Johnson urged Zelensky not to sign a peace agreement with Russia.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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