image source,Getty Images
Workers remove body found in Butcha
After Russian troops withdrew from the town on the outskirts of Kyiv, images of civilians lying dead on the streets were leaked, and members of media organizations also found the bodies.
Ukraine accused Russia of “deliberate massacre”. But Russia called it “a provocative act fabricated by the Kyiv regime”. Moscow and pro-Russian figures have refuted the allegations and offered several reasons, which the BBC has checked.
Claim 1: “Fake civilian corpses”
After Russian troops evacuated the town of Butcha, online videos showed bodies strewn on both sides of the road.
But pro-Russian social media then began circulating a slow-motion video of one of the bodies’ arms moving. Afterwards, the Russian embassy in Canada posted the video on its official Twitter account, titled “Fake video: fake corpses in the town of Butcha near Kyiv.”
This video is blurry. However, after careful analysis by the BBC, it was found that the alleged moving body arm was actually a mark on the lower right corner of the windshield when the vehicle passed by. We circled this mark in the film, which looks like a speck of raindrops or dust on the windshield, and we also see a similar mark on the windshield at the beginning of the film.
The Russian side also proposed that another part of the film was also forged. They said the body was visible in the right wing rear-view mirror as the car passed another body lying on the pavement with red and yellow stones (with a broken brown fence next to the body) Suddenly “sit up”.
However, when we reviewed the footage in slow motion, we found that this was due to the distorted image of the corpse in the rearview mirror being reflected into the mirror, and the image of the house behind the corpse was also distorted. Also, we’ve seen the same effect in other mirror-like videos posted online.
In addition, the BBC compared a related video released on April 2 with a high-resolution photo provided by Getty Images and AFP on April 3. It was found that the first corpse in the film was lying on his back on a roadside painted white and yellow. The sidewalk to the right of the corpse had asphalt and grass, and there was a silver car on the sidewalk next to it. The trunk of the car was opened and the position was white. in front of the fence. The same cars, curbs, sidewalks and fences can also be seen in photos released by Getty New Images and AFP.
The second body was wearing a black coat and appeared to have a blood-stained tourniquet or bandage on its right arm. The body lay on its side by the red-and-yellow pavement, in front of it was a broken brown fence. The black coats, tourniquets/bandages, sidewalks and fences all match the photos of the body released by Getty and AFP.
image source,Ukraine Defence Ministry
Footage in video shows body in car’s side mirror
Claim 2: The corpse “was not rigid”
The Russian Foreign Ministry previously tweeted. “It is particularly puzzling that in the pictures released in Kyiv, the body is still not rigid after 4 days.”
According to the Ukrainian military, Russian troops left in the early hours of March 31. Russia said they left the town of Butcha on March 30.
In the hours following a person’s death, the corpse undergoes a gradual stiffening process, as muscles begin to contract and stiffen in the hours following a person’s death.
We asked the medical examiner to comment on whether the body would “harden” after four days. A forensic doctor who has worked on war crimes investigations in places including Kosovo and Rwanda, but did not want to be named, explained to the BBC that four days after a person’s death, the stiffness “often subsides”.
Russia’s official Twitter also stated that the bodies “did not have typical corpse spots”.
It is unclear why Russia would bring this up. But pathologists told the BBC that people who died from gunshot wounds or other acts of violence would look very different, depending on the weapon used, how far they were shot, etc. Experts say the reason we usually see a body without a lot of blood on the outside of the body can be because blood has accumulated in the person’s body, or the blood has been absorbed by thick clothing.
However, the Russian tweet may be referring to corpse spots where blood stops circulating in the body after death, which can cause the skin to turn red or purple. However, if someone is lying down, this area of blood pooling and discoloration will most likely not be visible from the picture alone.
image source,Getty Images
Claim 3: “None of the local residents suffered any violence”
According to a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense, during the Russian occupation of the town of Butcha, “none of the local residents suffered any violence.”
However, this claim is contradicted by eyewitness accounts of many residents.
On March 4, a local teacher told Human Rights Watch that Russian troops rounded up five people and executed one of them. Local residents interviewed by The Insider, a Russian investigative website, described similar situations. “It’s horrible these days. Your yard, your house, even your life doesn’t belong to you. No electricity, water, gas. “You’re not allowed to leave the house because if you Leave and you’ll be shot. “
Locals have also told the BBC that Russians systematically broke in, looting flats and keeping residents locked in cellars while soldiers stole valuables and food.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also claimed that their troops left the town of Butcha on March 30, and that the relevant video was released “four days after the departure of the Russian troops and after representatives of the Kran Security Service and the Ukrainian media had arrived in the town. “.
But media organizations such as AFP released pictures of the body on April 2. The BBC also found videos of bodies on the streets of the town circulating on social media as early as April 1.