Bucha 'massacre' is another media hoax

American Thinker: 'The allegations of the Bucha massacre are false.

'The Russian military left Bucha, Ukraine on March 30, 2022. On March 31, Bucha mayor Anatoly Fedoruk triumphantly declared Bucha liberated. On April 1, a video shot from a moving car appeared on Twitter, showing 7 (maybe 8) dead bodies on the Yablonska Street in Bucha. By April 3, the number of bodies found on the streets of Bucha had grown to 20, and mass graves were shown. Kyiv claimed that the Russian military had executed between 280 and 410 civilians in Bucha. Russia denied these accusations (RIA FAN in Russian, April 7) and demanded a special session by the U.N. Security Council to refute them. This request was blocked by Britain.

'Mass Graves

'The mass graves are real, but the decision to bury the deceased in a mass grave was made by the local authorities in consultations with clergy after the morgue was overflowing. Deceased people, including those who had died from natural causes and shooting by both sides, were buried there.

'Burying the dead in mass graves in Bucha was known since March 10, at least. It was discussed in Russian-speaking forums with videos...

'...Bucha was under Russian control at that time, so shelling was likely not by them. Until April 2–3, nobody claimed that victims of executions had been buried there. This practice of temporary burial in mass graves ("братские могилы," literally "brotherly graves") is being reported from other contested areas of Ukraine. It has nothing to do with alleged war crimes.

There is a huge cultural misunderstanding. In the West, mass graves are associated with mass murder. In Russia and Ukraine, they are associated with fighting a war. Even permanent burial in mass or brotherly graves is not unusual in times of war....'