The Kremlin has categorically rejected accusations that Russian forces were responsible for killing civilians in Bucha, suggesting images of corpses lining the streets were “fakes”.
Journalists from international media over the weekend found corpses in civilian clothes – some with their hands bound – in Bucha after Ukrainian forces retook the town on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, from the Russian army.
Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday they were investigating possible war crimes, while Western leaders erupted in outrage over the deaths. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the facts and chronology of the events in Bucha did not support Ukraine’s version of events.
He said Russian “experts at the Ministry of Defence have identified signs of video fakes and various fakes”, without elaborating.
“We would demand that many international leaders do not rush to sweeping accusations and at least listen to our arguments,” he added.
Peskov also said Russia’s diplomats would press on with their efforts to convene a United Nations Security Council meeting to discuss what Moscow has called “Ukrainian provocations” in Bucha despite their first effort to arrange such a meeting being blocked.
Peskov declined to comment on whether the furore over Bucha would affect peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv, which had been set to resume via video conference on Monday.
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