Category Attacks on civilians

Russian media campaign falsely claims Bucha deaths are fakes

As gruesome videos and photos of bodies emerge from the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, Kremlin-backed media are denouncing them as an elaborate hoax — a narrative that journalists in Ukraine have shown to be false. Denouncing news as fake or spreading false reports to sow confusion and undermine its adversaries are tactics that Moscow has used for years and refined with the advent of social media in places like Syria.

No, the discovery of bodies in Ukraine’s Bucha was not ‘staged’ with ‘actors’

Ukraine authorities have said bodies discovered on April 2, 2022 in the small town of Bucha were civilians killed by retreating Russian forces, allegations which Moscow has denied. Several posts shared on social networks -- including from Russian authorities -- have claimed that the scene was staged by Ukrainian forces and some of the so-called bodies were filmed moving. But AFP journalists on the ground confirmed they saw dead bodies that had been left for several days; footage used to support the misleading claims does not show the bodies moving, AFP's investigation found.

Fresh round of fake videos claim the Bucha massacre was staged

Several hundred bodies of civilians were discovered in Bucha, Ukraine on April 3. Since the horrific discovery, pro-Russian accounts on Twitter have been circulating images that they say prove that these bodies were fake or that the massacre was staged by Ukrainians. But we investigated and, it turns out, these images were taken out of context.

Bucha killings: Satellite image of bodies site contradicts Russian claims

A satellite image of Bucha in Ukraine appears to show bodies lying in the street nearly two weeks before the Russians left the town. The image from 19 March, first reported by the New York Times and confirmed by the BBC, directly contradicts Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's claim that footage of bodies in Bucha, that has emerged in recent days, was "staged" after the Russians withdrew.

Fact check: Atrocities in Bucha not ‘staged’

The images of civilians killed in Bucha have shocked the world. The Russian government and pro-Russian accounts claim they were staged and that some bodies were moving. Our DW fact check shows those claims are false.

Satellite images show bodies lay in Bucha for weeks, despite Russian claims.

The images rebut Russia’s claim that the killing of civilians in Bucha, near Kyiv, took place after its soldiers had left town.

These images from Bucha do not show ‘fake corpses’ staged by the Ukrainian army

Images published on April 3 showed the bodies of more than a dozen civilians who had been killed in Bucha, a town near Kyiv that had been occupied by the Russian army. Some of the bodies had their hands tied and some were shot in the head.Â Since then, several Russian media outlets and pro-Russian social media accounts have published a video that claimsÂ to show evidence the corpses in this video were staged. The FRANCE 24 Observers team analysed its claims.

Satellite Images Disprove Kremlin’s Claims That Bucha Massacre Was ‘Staged’

Claim: Images depicting a massacre in the Ukrainian city of Bucha were "staged." Rating: Not True

Fact-checking Russian disinformation about Bucha’s massacre

Journalists who were able to reach Bucha after the departure of the Russian troops witnessed streets lined with abandoned corpses, some of which showed signs of summary executions, such as hands tied behind their backs, and clearly visible bullet holes marking their bodies. These pitiless reports led Ukrainian authorities and international analysts to accuse Russia of war crimes, but as soon as disturbing videos and pictures of the massacre started spreading online, Russian authorities denied the allegations, claiming that the pictures were a “provocation” and “a staged performance” organized by Ukrainian forces “for the Western media”. As already happened after the bombing of the pediatric hospital in Mariupol, Russia started a massive disinformation campaign in order to deny the massacre through the exploitation of conspiracy theories circulating online.

Russia’s Bucha ‘Facts’ Versus the Evidence

Open source evidence exists that appears to run counter to claims of elaborate fakes and staged productions, as well as calling into question the apparent timeline of events as depicted by Russia in recent days.