Fact-checking Russian denials over Bucha massacre in Ukraine
Russia disputes Bucha atrocities, but satellite imagery shows a different story
As Russia’s troops retreat from previously-held areas of Ukraine, grim images are emerging of the bodies left behind, drawing international alarm of potential war crimes.
However, Russia’s officials continue to contest the veracity of footage depicting corpses dressed in civilian clothes.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that the alleged atrocities in Bucha were staged by Ukraine in order to undermine Moscow.
“The propaganda machine of the West and Ukraine has been working purely to fuel the hysteria over the video that was filmed - as we understand - by the Ukrainian military, by the secret service, in the Kyiv region,” the official said Tuesday.
But commercial satellite imagery of the sites reveals a different story.
Photos provided by the space technology firm Maxar Technologies show mass graves and still bodies left in the streets for weeks, challenging Russia’s allegations of a staged hoax.
As mounting evidence indicates possible war crimes committed in Ukraine, a number of states are also calling for Russia to be tried at the International Criminal Court.
On Monday, United States President Joe Biden called Russia’s President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” and called for an investigation into the matter.
“We have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue the fight and we have to get all the details so this can be an actual… war crime trial,” the commander-in-chief said.