Kyiv interested in a transparent investigation into Bucha events: Ukrainian President
New Delhi: Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky stated on Tuesday that he is interested in an all-embracing and transparent investigation into the recent events in Bucha, near the country’s capital of Kyiv.
“We are interested in the maximally full and transparent investigation, the results of which will be announced and explained to the whole international society,” Zelensky said in a video address posted by his press office on Tuesday.
“We have provided the maximum access to journalists to Bucha and other liberated cities of Ukraine, to hundreds of journalists from around the globe,” he continued. “And we are interested that thousands of journalists visit this site, the more the better.”
On April 3, the Russian Ministry of Defense rebutted Kyiv’s accusations of murders of civilians in the town of Bucha, in the Kyiv Region. The ministry stated that Russian forces completely withdrew from Bucha on March 30, while the “evidence of crimes” didn’t appear until four days later when Ukrainian Security Service officers arrived in Bucha.
The Defense Ministry also said that Bucha Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk confirmed in a video address on March 31 that there were no Russian troops in the city, and he didn’t mention any civilians shot and killed in the streets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the situation in Bucha as a “fake news attack.”
Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine
President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine in order to protect people “who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.”
The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories and the operation was aimed at demilitarizing and denazifying Ukraine.
When clarifying the developments unfolding, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.
(Vinayak)
