An analysis of satellite images carried out by the “New York Times” shows that the bodies of civilians had been lying for nearly two weeks in the town of Boutcha. Moscow claimed that it was a staging made after his departure from this suburb of Kyiv.
Satellite images don’t lie. According to an analysis of images carried out by the New York Times, bodies of civilians – some with their hands tied, others with bullet wounds to the head – have been lying in the streets of Boutcha, Ukraine, for at least two weeks. A version of the story which comes to dismantle the Russian assertions, according to which these murders would have intervened after the departure of the soldiers of this city located on the outskirts of Kyiv.
“These are war crimes and they will be recognized by the world as genocide”, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, present this Monday afternoon in the streets of the city. On Monday, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said the remains of 410 civilians were found in Boutcha and in areas near the Kyiv region, recently recaptured from Russian troops.
Moscow has firmly denied any responsibility. The Kremlin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke in unison of “falsifications” and staged for the press, claiming that the bodies had been placed recently, once “all Russian units had withdrawn from Boutcha”, around March 30. Except that the work of the American daily proves the opposite.
At least 11 bodies on the street since March 11
To establish the chronology of events, the teams of the New York Times analyzed satellite images over several days and compared them with a video taken by a member of the local council on April 2, showing the presence of several bodies scattered along Yablonska street in Boutcha. This comparison shows that at least 11 of them had been on the streets at least since March 21. “The objects appear in the precise positions in which the bodies were found after Ukrainian forces recovered Bucha, as seen in images from April 2”specifies the American daily.
For almost two weeks, the human forms visible from the sky did not move. Thus, the analysis of the daily confirms that many civilians were killed while the Russian army still controlled the city. Always according to New York Times, the causes of these deaths cannot be determined from these photographs. While some bodies were next to a form that could be related to “an impact crater”, others, lay near abandoned cars or bicycles. A second video, still taken on April 2 by the Ukrainian authorities, shows three other bodies, which appeared on satellite images between March 20 and 21.
The United Nations and several Western countries have shown their indignation after the discovery of these bodies in the streets or mass graves of Boutcha, following the withdrawal of the Russians who are loosening the vice on the capital to concentrate on the south and the eastern Ukraine. They called for an investigation into the “war crimes” attributed to Russian soldiers and described as “genocide” by the Ukrainian authorities.