Establishment media in the west have been repeating stories about mass killings of civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, which is near capital Kyiv. The leftist establishment in the west and its international allies have accused Russian military of killing the residents of Bucha. But Russia says it is up for proving that the said massacre is Ukraine’s doing.
Bucha in Perspective
In its latest update on the issue, Russia Today published a timeline of events leading up to the Bucha massacre and the current exchange of accusations between the two conflicting sides. Moscow has pointed out the absence of massacre allegations in the March 31 address of Bucha’s Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk wherein he declared the city “liberated” as Russian forces left it the previous day.
Prior to leaving Bucha, Russia had asked for a criminal investigation into the videos of captured Russian soldiers being tortured by the Ukrainians.
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed it had intercepted communications between the governments of Ukraine and Britain discussing the publicity fallout from the alleged torture video.
Russia had also warned of staged videos that the Ukrainian side will produce to allege Russian war crimes in Ukraine. On April 2, Ukraine deployed commandos to Bucha to “clear the territory from saboteurs and collaborators” and the same day footage of dead civilians started coming out of the city with the Ukrainian officials and western media quickly blaming it on Russian forces.
Counter Evidence
Then some revealing evidence came out for a counter-narrative undermining the Ukrainian side of the story. The Ukrainian military posted a video clip – later deleted but still available on telegram – that allegedly shows the Ukrainian military talking about shooting people in Bucha who were not wearing a blue armband. The story noted that Russian forces, while being in the city, had told civilians to tie a white armband so they could be recognized as non-combatants.
A BitChute video posted today allegedly shows Ukrainian forces rounding up people with white armbands. This seemingly confirms the Russian position that Ukraine targeted people who followed Russian orders of declaring themselves non-combatant by tying white armbands.
Russia Calling Security Council Session
On April 3, Russia said it called an emergency session of the UN Security Council to discuss allegations surrounding the Bucha killings. However, the United Kingdom (UK) blocked that effort.
Moscow claimed the attempt to meet on Monday was blocked by the UK, which is also a permanent member of the body. The British mission said the session will take place on Tuesday instead.
Videos of Ukrainian civilians calling out Ukrainian president Zelensky responsible for the destruction have also appeared on social media.
Zelensky has banned political opposition in the country and brought TV news programs under government control.
