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This street in Bucha leads to the Church of St. Andrew the Apostle, visible in the background, which later gained tragic prominence after mass graves of people murdered by Russian forces were discovered on its grounds. Photo: Dietmar Pichler, 2015
Redaktion

Bucha, the well-documented Russian war crime that some still deny or doubt

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Despite being well documented, the Russian crimes committed in Bucha four years ago are still questioned by some people, not only by trolls.
4 years since the liberation of the small Ukrainian city of Bucha, which became a worldwide symbol for Russian war crimes against civilians. Various investigations by authorities, fact checkers, journalists and witness statements make Bucha one of the best documented war crimes in world history. What happened in Bucha is proven by satellite images, witness statements, open-source investigations, and extensive forensic evidence documented by authorities and independent organizations and journalists.

Of course, Bucha is not the only city in Ukraine where unspeakable Russian war crimes happened, cities like Irpin, Izium and Kherson are further examples of Russian terror under occupation, not to mention the mass murder in still occupied Mariupol.

Indeed, the peace movement and pacifist groups often try to ignore, downplay, or even deny events like Bucha, where civilians were helpless against an invading army and violence and crimes occurred while no one was able to defend them; this certainly does not serve their narrative.

Every year, around the anniversary of the liberation, Ukrainians and their supporters remember the victims of this massacre, but we also see voices of denial and doubt. When we speak about the people who share doubts that the Russians conducted this war crime, we see that not only anonymous trolls or online conspiracy theories share such narratives.

Some examples from academia:

US economist and frequent guest on RT, Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov’s show, and Chinese media, Jeffrey Sachs said about Bucha in a talk with Austrian political scientist Heinz Gärtner 2023: „Bucha may or may not have happened…“

German sinologist Susanne Wigelein Schwiedrzik said about Bucha on an Austrian TV show in 2023 that we „still don’t know what exactly happened in Bucha“. In 2026, when asked about this statement, she answered that she would not take it back and further stated: „I am not the only one who does not know what happened there, I am willing to be convinced when certain proof is available“.

Richard Sakwa, University of Kent, who also was a speaker at the Russian state linked Valdai Discussion Club, said about Bucha in an interview for the fringe portal „Grayzone“:

“And I don’t know what happened in Bucha after it was retaken by Ukrainian forces…” Further he states: “There is considerable evidence, though, that the standard version that this was a killing taking place by the Russian forces can be questioned. I’m not saying that the Russian occupation was completely without violence; of course, it wasn’t. But even these satellite pictures can be questioned as well. The position of bodies in relation to motor cars and so on. Who knows?”

Not famous as an academic but as a left wing populist politician (Workers Party) and author („Fidel Castro Handbook“), George Galloway not only doubts but outright denies the events of Bucha: „So I don’t believe that Bucha was a war crime; I believe it belongs in the long line of false flag operations used to trigger war…“
He also failed to pronounce „Bucha“ correctly (like the name „Butch“), instead pronouncing it like the Ukrainian word „buka,“ which means something like „boogeyman“; perhaps Galloway was talking about himself. (https://x.com/nickreeves9876/status/2038975714163097733/video/1)

Indeed, there are various sources, investigations and publications that document the events in Bucha in detail, some of which you can find below.

 

 

 

 

 

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