In the town of Butcha there are many graves where the bodies of civilians are temporarily buried. Local residents said the civilians were killed by Russian soldiers.Photo: Dazhi Image/Archyde.com
The town of Butcha, located 37 kilometers northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, was occupied by the Russian army for more than a month. After more than a month, Ukrainian officials accused that more than 300 people were killed by the Russian army in the town of Butcha alone, including regarding 300 people. Fifty people were executed, which Russia denies. The German weekly Der Spiegel reported that intelligence agencies had intercepted radio messages from the Russian army that corresponded to the massacre in the town of Bucha.
According to the German “Der Spiegel” magazine, the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) alleges that it has intercepted communications from the Russian army, confirming that the Russian army and the Wagner Group mercenaries, known as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “private soldiers”, deliberately in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. The killings in the town of Butcha, in order to “spread terror” among civilians, are part of Russia’s strategy, and it is very likely that similar killings will take place elsewhere in Ukraine.
The report noted that communications from Putin’s army intercepted by the BND included discussions of the brutal murder of civilians in the town of Butcha, outside Kyiv. These communications relate to specific bodies found in the town of Butcha. One soldier talked regarding how he and his comrades shot and killed a cyclist, while another said: “Ask the soldier first, then shoot.” The Kremlin claimed that the local massacre was fabricated by Ukraine and Western countries to discredit Russian Army.
The report continued that the recordings showed that the Wagner Group was present in the town and “played a key role” in the massacre. And these atrocities were neither accidental nor the out-of-control actions of individual soldiers. Russian troops often discuss potential war crimes as if they were everyday life. The BND has forwarded the recording to the German parliament and stressed that it is believed that similar situations to the town of Butcha are also taking place in other cities in Ukraine, especially near Malibo, which is still under heavy bombardment.
The new evidence also prompted former German justice minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger and former interior minister Gerhart Baum to join forces to file criminal charges once morest federal prosecutors, including Putin. “The law is a weapon in this situation, and we want to use it,” Baum said.
