The Russian government has handed over its version of accounts on the 2022 ‘Bucha massacre’ in Ukraine to China, as Moscow pushes its rebuttal of Kyiv’s narrative of the widely-condemned incident.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday presented to his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi the report titled “Goebbels’ Heirs: The Falsification of Events in Bucha and the Kiev Regime’s Bloody Staged Provocations.”
Drafted by the International Public Tribunal, chaired by Maxim Grigoryev, a member of Russia’s Civic Chamber, Moscow said the report covers “fake claims” about the alleged atrocity in Bucha disseminated by Ukraine.
Lavrov and Wang Yi held talks on bilateral and international issues on the sidelines of the 7th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The officials restated their commitment to the Moscow-Beijing partnership, including at the UN, UN Security Council, the G20, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, BRICS, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and other platforms.
The Bucha tragedy, involving abuse of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war by Russian servicemembers, occurred in March 2022, during the Kyiv offensive within the first few weeks of the invasion.
According to Ukrainian reports, 458 bodies were recovered in Bucha, including 419 from violent trauma or shootings and 39 natural or occupation-linked deaths, with over 1,000 casualties across Kyiv Oblast.
Among the documented abuses were extrajudicial killings, torture chambers, sexual violence and rape, mutilation, burnings, enforced disappearances, and the use of human shields.
The alleged perpetrators implicated were elements of the Russian Armed Forces, specifically units such as the 234th Guards Air Assault Regiment and the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine attributed at least 73 civilian deaths in Bucha to summary executions or targeted murders during the occupation, while working to verify additional cases.
Russia claimed the footage and photos of corpses were staged or fabricated by Ukrainian forces. The denials were debunked by independent probes, satellite imagery showing bodies on streets, and eyewitness testimonies.
Ukraine: Russia presents 2022 Bucha massacre counter-report to China