Bucha massacre: Ukraine presses murder charges against two Russian soldiers

Ukraine's Prosecutor General charges two more Russian servicemen with murder for executing a civilian in Bucha, accused of violating war laws.

Mar 5, 2024 - 19:49

Bucha massacre: Ukraine presses murder charges against two Russian soldiers

Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General has charged two more Russian military servicemen with murder for allegedly executing a civilian in the town of Bucha near Kyiv in March 2022, Ukrinform reports. Under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the servicemen are accused of violating the laws and customs of war, combined with intentional murder.

The Bucha massacre was the mass murder of at least 422 Ukrainian civilians and POWs by Russian forces during the month-long occupation of Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, in 2022.

The investigation revealed that on 19 March 2022, around 17:00, two crew members operating a Russian self-propelled howitzer in the temporarily occupied town of Bucha noticed a local resident in civilian clothes with a white stripe on his sleeve. The man, a non-combatant, was unarmed and posed no threat that could justify the use of violence against him. The Russians, without any warning, opened fire with small arms, instantly killing the civilian.

In Kyiv Oblast, the Russian army has claimed the lives of over 1,600 civilians, including 53 children, during the two years of full-scale war, according to Ruslan Kravchenko, the head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration.

As of last February, 91 Russian soldiers involved in war crimes in Kyiv Oblast were identified, according to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General.

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