The Bucha Massacre

According to Ukrainian prosecutors, a total of 410 victims were found in several areas near Kyiv, including Bucha, which was recaptured by Ukrainian forces.[2][3] The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights confirmed the killing of 73 civilians.[4][5] As of March 2023, one year after Bucha was liberated, it is estimated that more than 1,400 people were killed.[1]

Ukraine, Europe, the United States and international human rights groups have condemned the attacks as violations of international law, but the Russian government denies any involvement.[6]

Russia also called for a UN Security Council meeting to discuss what it called “criminal acts committed by Ukrainian soldiers and militants” in Bucha, near Kyiv, but the UK, which chairs the council, held scheduled consultations on Ukraine as scheduled. Ukrainian authorities announced that they were investigating possible Russian war crimes after finding hundreds of bodies scattered around a town on the outskirts of the capital, Kiev, after Russian troops withdrew from the area.[7] A 2022 Human Rights Watch report noted that the same behavior has been observed in many other parts of Ukraine, and is therefore a consistent practice by Russian forces.[8]
In March 2023, a commission of inquiry established by the United Nations Human Rights Council published a report stating that Russia had committed acts that amounted to war crimes, including attacks and massacres of civilians and the abduction of children.[9]
This is also known as the Bucha incident.[10]