Vladimir Putin has awarded the 64th Brigade accused of the Bucha massacre in Russia without waiting for an independent investigation to highlight the massacre that took place in the Ukrainian city during his army’s occupation. Another move by the Kremlin to strengthen its position, particularly domestically, comes from the Foreign Ministry through the voice of Pyotr Ilyichev, director of the International Organizations Department, who publicly expressed Moscow’s total distrust of any investigation at the UN: “We need to assess the nature of the investigation and who will conduct it. Unfortunately, the experience from previous investigations, also conducted by the International Criminal Court [ndr.]have been shown to be biased,” the diplomat said, as reported by RIA.
This is a step backwards from Austrian Chancellor Nehammer’s statement that Vladimir Putin was willing to cooperate with the investigation. Two weeks after the first images of the massacre circulated, the Moscow authorities to date have not provided any evidence that they are unfamiliar with the facts, preferring to spread conspiracy theories through their own institutional organs, citing the propaganda website as a source state “Guerra ai fakes,” the same one that has become a point of reference for the likes of Oliver Stone in their clumsy attempt to smear satellite imagery published by the New York Times.
Cover photo: Pyotr Ilyichev.
