Kremlin: Bucha Provocation Aimed at Slandering Russia

Earlier on Tuesday, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev slammed the Bucha provocation as "a fake that was made in the cynical imagination of Ukrainian propaganda".

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated that the Bucha provocation is aimed at slandering Russia.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Peskov stressed that Moscow insists on an unbiased investigation into the matter.

"[...] We still insist that any accusations against the Russian side, against the Russian military are not just groundless, but these are nothing but a well-directed and tragic show", he said.

According to Peskov, "the whole course of events, as well as a huge amount of data, facts, and other parameters clearly indicate that this is a forgery in order to try to tarnish the Russian Army". The Kremlin spokesman warned that such attempts will never be successful.

He also pointed to the conflicting statements on the Bucha provocation made by US President Joe Biden and the Pentagon.

"We draw [your] attention to the ongoing contradictions in the ranks of the Americans, when the president calls something a war crime, and the Pentagon makes a statement that it does not have accurate data that would allow us to come to such a conclusion. We simply record these facts", Peskov said.

He added that "the West has simply closed its eyes and ears with blinkers and does not want to hear anything" on the Bucha provocation. "Unfortunately, this is a reality, but even so, we intend to actively promote our position", the Kremlin spokesman emphasised.

When asked whether it is possible to hold a general meeting on this issue at the UN Security Council, Peskov said that Russian diplomats are working on this.

"The work continues. You know that they put grit in the machine in a rather unprecedented way. They are blocking our initiatives. But despite this, we will not sit on our hands", he stated.

Peskov added that Moscow is once again urging UN Security Council members and the leaders of Western nations "to disengage themselves from emotional perception, which is not based on anything, and just think and try to compare the facts".

According to him, this is needed "in order to understand that we are talking about a heinous forgery [pertaining to the Bucha provocation]".

Peskov also said that the Kremlin does not rule out the emergence of new fakes about the Russian military in Ukraine that may be similar to the Bucha provocation, which is why Moscow will continue to persistently separate fact from fiction.

"You've heard statements by [Russian] Defence Ministry spokespersons that another doctored filming is possible in order to falsify situations similar to what happened in Bucha. Therefore, this cannot be ruled out. But every time we will persistently talk about what truth is and what fiction is", Peskov noted.

Bucha Provocation

On Sunday, video footage emerged showing the bodies of reportedly dead individuals scattered on the streets of Bucha. While Ukrainian authorities pointed the finger at Russia, Moscow rejected the accusations, stressing that Ukrainian forces shelled the city after Russian troops had already withdrawn from the area.

At the same time, many corpses in the videos were wearing white armbands, which may have been considered a Russian insignia by Ukrainian troops. Before the reports of the mass killings emerged, the Ukrainian police announced it was performing an op in the settlement to "clear the area of saboteurs and accomplices of Russian troops", something that also raises questions about the possible preparations for the Bucha provocation.

The developments unfold amid the ongoing Russian special military operation to demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine announced by President Vladimir Putin on 24 February. The Russian Defence Ministry underlined that the operation only targets Ukraine’s military infrastructure and that the civilian population is not in danger.

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