EU Preps New Russia Sanctions After Bucha Massacre Which Kremlin Calls Staged "Provocation"

Following a weekend where Ukraine released a barrage of videos it says depicts massacres of civilians in the town of Bucha on the outskirts of Kiev, Western powers are mulling and readying a next wave of anti-Russia sanctions due to what the US and others say are war crimes.

The European Council said in a Monday statement: "The European Union condemns in the strongest possible terms the reported atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces in a number of occupied Ukrainian towns, that have now been liberated."

Ukrainian and Western media sources are widely citing that at least 300 residents of Bucha were killed, a town now back in control of Ukrainian forces, after the area endured "unspeakable horrors". Western media and officials are now increasingly using the word genocide to describe it. Ukrainian authorities say they've counted 410 among the bodies, most of them with gunshots, strewn about the town.

"The massacres in the town of Bucha and other Ukrainian towns will be inscribed in the list of atrocities committed on European soil," the EU added.

The Kremlin is vehemently rejecting the accusations, calling it a 'staged provocation' for the purpose of triggering more sanctions and drawing the West more into the fight. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, "Yesterday, the current UN SC president, Britain, acting in accordance with its worst traditions, once again refused to give consent to holding a Security Council meeting on Bucha. Today, Russia will demand once again the UN Security Council meet in session to discuss criminal provocations by the Ukrainian military and radicals in that city," according to TASS.

CNBC describes of the graphic and disturbing images now being featured on Western and American news networks:

CNN and others are reporting mass graves in the town and are now calling it scene of a "genocide" - also alleging that many civilians were executed with hands tied behind their backs:

Further in response EU Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said before going into a meeting of euro-area finance ministers in Luxembourg: "We must step up our pressure against Russia and we must step up our support for Ukraine," according to Bloomberg. He confirmed that regarding new sanctions "discussions are ongoing" and that "nothing is off the table".

French President Emmanuel Macron was among top European leaders to say he's ready to support new sanctions as a result of Bucha, while German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht called on the European Union to discuss ending Russian gas imports.

Indeed the real question remains just how to do all of this without EU members hurting their own countries' economies just as much if not more than what's intended for Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had also immediately dismissed what he deemed a "fake attack" in Bucha. He said "such provocations" are a "direct threat to international peace and security" - as they aim to escalate toward a major NATO-Russia showdown.

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/04/the-bucha-provocation.html#more

The Bucha Provocation

The Bucha 'Russian' atrocities propaganda onslaught may have worked well in the 'west' but it lacks evidence that Russia had anything to do with it.

The former Indian ambassador M.K. Bhadrakumar calls it an outright fake:

"An indignant Moscow has angrily demanded a United Nations Security Council meeting on Monday over the allegations of atrocities by Russian troops in areas around Kiev through the past month. Prima facie, this allegation is fake news but it can mould misperceptions by the time it gets exposed as disinformation.

A Tass report says: “The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that the Russian Armed Forces had left Bucha, located in the Kiev region, on March 30, while “the evidence of crimes” emerged only four days later, after Ukrainian Security Service officers had arrived in the town. The ministry stressed that on March 31, the town’s Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk had confirmed in a video address that there were no Russian troops in Bucha. However, he did not say a word about civilians shot dead on the street with their hands tied behind their backs.”

Even more surprising is that within minutes of the “breaking news”, western leaders — heads of state, foreign ministers, former politicians — popped up with statements duly kept ready and only based on the videos, seconds-long videos and a clutch of photos, ready to pour accusations. No expert opinion was sought, no forensic work was done, no opportunity given to the accused to be heard.

I had yesterday, at 15:09 UTC, posted a timeline of the events in Bucha on Twitter. Here is an expanded version.

Mar 30 - Ru troops leave Bucha

Mar 31 - Mayor of Bucha announces town 'liberated', makes no mention of atrocities.

Bucha liberated from Russian invaders – mayor - Ukrinform

"March 31 will go down in the history of our Bucha community as the Day of Liberation. ..."

Apr 1/2 - Azov Nazis enter Bucha

Scenes of desperation and death as the Russians retreat from suburbs outside Kyiv. - New York Times

Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov battalion walked through the remnants of a Russian military convoy in the recently liberated town of Bucha on Saturday, just outside the capital after the Russians withdrew.

Apr 3 - Ukr MinDef publishes video of 'Russian' atrocities

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine. - New York Times, Apr 3

Footage posted by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry and photographs from news agencies showed the bodies of men in civilian clothes on the streets of Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv. Images showed some corpses with hands bound behind their back.

A screenshot of the original NYT piece was attached to my tweet. It included the sentence:

"The New York Times was unable to independently verify the assertions by Ukraine's Defense Ministry and other officials."

The above tweet went viral with more than 3,000 retweets and nearly 5,000 likes. People obviously recognize the importance of the above timeline for the question of who killed whom, when and how.

Gonzalo Lira, who is in Karkiv, has previously directed a professionally made movie. In this video he asserts that the main 'Russian' atrocity video, which shows cars driving down a street strewn with dead bodies, is of a professional high production quality that can only be achieved with high end equipment. He also remarks on additional evidence from the scenes that points to a false flag operation.

Lira comes to the conclusion that the Azov Nazis have killed some people in Bucha that had been too friendly with the Russian 'occupiers' and are now blaming Russia for it.

Azov gangs are known for such atrocities. Based on the above timeline I concur with Lira's conclusion.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.