Images show bodies lay in Bucha for WEEKS disproving Russia’s claims corpses were brought in later

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Satellite images which show dead bodies lining the streets of Bucha weeks ago appear to have debunked Russian claims that they were placed there after their troops left the Ukrainian commuter town.

Authorities in Ukraine said the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in areas outside of Kyiv – specifically in the town of Bucha – after last week’s withdrawal of Russian troops.

Horrific images show many civilians with bound hands, close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture. A growing number of world leaders have voiced outrage and called for tougher sanctions against Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the accusations that Russian troops committed the atrocities as a ‘staged provocation’ but has yet to provide the ’empirical evidence’ he says proves they are not responsible.

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defence issued a lengthy statement which said no civilians had suffered violence at the hands of Russian troops and that the images were staged.

However, analysis of satellite images by the New York Times and of moving and still images by fact-checkers at the BBC contradict Russia’s denial.

The NYT has retrieved archived satellite images they have then matched up with photos taken by members of the media on the ground in Bucha which they say proves the bodies were there before Russian troops withdrew on March 30. 

The newspaper matched up to 11 bodies on the streets in a video shot by a local resident on April 2 with a satellite image from March 11 – when Russia was occupying the town – which suggests the bodies had been there for weeks. Subsequent images obtained by MailOnline from March 19 correlate with the same video.

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES 

A second video depicted three more bodies which satellite images show appeared there between March 20 and 21, according to the Times, again – before Russia said they left the town. 

Meanwhile, other Russian claims include that one body appears to move in a video taken from a moving car but this was later debunked by fact-checkers and proved to be a mark on the windshield in higher quality footage.

Russia’s defence ministry added: ‘It is of particular worry that all the bodies of the people whose images have been published by the Kiev regime are not stiffened after at least four days.’

But a forensic pathologist who has worked on war crime investigations told the BBC that after four days, the process of stiffening – known as rigor mortis – has usually subsided.

The pathologist also told the BBC that the appearance of victims of violence varies dramatically depending on the weapon used and other circumstances.

They said that there is not always visible pools of blood, especially if victims are dressed for cold weather.

The Russian statement also claims that news of the atrocities didn’t emerge until four days after they say troops withdrew on March 30, but there is evidence of corpses in the streets being shared online as early as April 1. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the start of his talks with UN Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths that Moscow sees the claim of a massacre of civilians on the outskirts of Kyiv as ‘a provocation that posed a direct threat to global peace and security’.

Lavrov noted that Russia called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council but the UK that currently chairs it refused to convene. He vowed to press the demand for holding the meeting.

Earlier today, Lavrov vowed that Russia would hold a press conference in New York where they would present ‘the most detailed material to show the true nature of incidents in Bucha’.

But at a press conference held this evening, Russia’s envoy to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, did not present any evidence that they were not responsible for the atrocities or that the images had been staged.

Instead, Nebenzya said Russia will present the alleged proof to the UN Security Council at the earliest opportunity.

‘We have empirical evidence to support this,’ Nebenzya told journalists at the press conference.

‘We intend to submit them to the Security Council as soon as possible so that the international community is not misled by the false plot of Kyiv and its Western sponsors.’ 

Britain’s UN ambassador says a previously planned UN Security Council meeting Tuesday is certain to focus ‘front and center’ on the killing of large numbers of civilians in Ukraine.

Some of the dead were found with their hands tied behind their backs after Russian troops left the Ukrainian town of Bucha on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv.

The UK holds the council presidency in April, and Ambassador Barbara Woodward said Britain didn’t grant Russia’s request for a meeting on the situation in Bucha on Monday because ‘we didn’t see a good reason to have two meetings back to back on Ukraine.’

She told reporters that the Security Council will be briefed Tuesday by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths and UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo.

Woodward said that ‘the images that we saw coming out of Bucha over the weekend were harrowing, appalling, probable evidence of war crimes and possibly a genocide.’

Meanwhile, a Russian law enforcement agency has said it has launched its own investigation into allegations that Ukrainian civilians were massacred, focusing on what it calls ‘false information’ about Russian forces.

The Investigative Committee claims Ukrainian authorities made the allegations ‘with the aim of discrediting Russian troops’ and that those involved should be investigated over possible breaches of a new Russian law banning what the government deems to be false information about its forces.

Russian law enforcement has launched several investigations since Russian troops entered Ukraine, typically into incidents such as the shelling of areas held by Russia-backed separatists. 

Moscow faced global revulsion and accusations of war crimes Monday after the Russian pullout from the outskirts of Kyiv revealed streets strewn with corpses of what appeared to be civilians, some of whom had seemingly been killed at close range.

The grisly images of battered bodies left out in the open or hastily buried led to calls for tougher sanctions against the Kremlin, namely a cutoff of fuel imports from Russia.

Germany and France reacted by expelling dozens of Russian diplomats, suggesting they were spies, and US President Joe Biden said Russian leader Vladimir Putin should be tried for war crimes.

On Monday, Biden called for a trial, adding to the global outcry over civilian killings in the Ukrainian town of Bucha as more graphic images of their deaths emerged.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon said Russian forces are obviously responsible for the atrocities in Bucha, even as it acknowledged it was not yet sure precisely which units were operating in the area.

‘I think it’s fairly obvious, not just to us but to the world, that Russian forces are responsible for the atrocities in Bucha,’ Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told a news briefing.

‘Now exactly who – what units, whether they’re contractors or Chechens – I don’t think we’re able to say right now. But we’re certainly not refuting that these atrocities occurred and occurred at the hands of Russians.’

The Kremlin categorically denied any accusations relating to the murder of civilians, including in Bucha, where it said the graves and corpses had been staged by Ukraine to tarnish Russia.

Asked at a news conference about Biden’s comments, Lavrov said the West should first consider its own actions in Iraq and Libya.

‘Not all is well with the conscience… of American politicians,’ he said. 

Speaking in a broadcast last night, Vladimir Soloviev, a prominent pro-Putin personality who supports the invasion, added: ‘The war against Russia entered a new phase today. Very soon we will be blamed of genocide.’

He alleged the plot was masterminded by Britain as he praised the ‘true patriots’ in Donbas as other sources have accused Kyiv of staging the horrifying scenes in Bucha.

Soloviev also brought up allegations of Russian troops raping young women in front of their families, at one point saying he ‘doesn’t even want to comment’ on the topic.

It comes as the Russian defence ministry rejected the allegations and claimed that ‘not a single civilian suffered from violence when the town was controlled by the Russian Armed Forces’. 

Russian ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said: ‘I would like to point out that Russian troops left Bucha on March 30.

‘The Ukrainian authorities remained silent all these days, and now they have suddenly posted sensational footage in order to tarnish Russia’s image and make Russia defend itself.

‘I would like to emphasise with full responsibility that not a single civilian suffered from violence when the town was controlled by the Russian Armed Forces. 

‘On the contrary, our troops delivered 452 tonnes of humanitarian aid for civilians.

‘Meanwhile, the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces shelled the town of Bucha right after Russian troops had left was deliberately ignored in the US.

‘This is what could have caused civilian casualties. That said, the Kyiv regime is clearly trying to blame its atrocities on Russia.’

Konstantin Kosachev, deputy speaker of the Russian upper house of parliament, said: ‘There are no doubts that it is a staging organised by Kyiv authorities.

‘And the fact that the West has picked it up and is hyping it makes it an accomplice of this cynical and immoral crime.’

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed Kyiv colluded with the West in seeking to blame Russia.

‘I think that the very fact that these statements were made minutes after these materials were released leaves no doubts as for who has contracted this story,’ she told state-run Rossiya-1 television channel.

She claimed the West decided immediately Russia was to blame ‘based on the videos, seconds-long videos and several photos. And they are ready to pour accusations.

‘No expert work done, no information from the other side throwing light on what is going on…’

She also alleged the massacres were ‘a provocation staged by the Ukrainian military and radical nationalists’ to disrupt peace talks. 

Meanwhile the Telegram channel War on Fakes, which has been accused of spreading misinformation about the invasion, shared posts discrediting the atrocities pictured and filmed in Bucha and said it was part of a ‘planned media campaign’. 

One post said: ‘Fake: The Russian military left Bucha, having previously left huge casualties among the civilian population.

‘Truth: Notes about Bucha appeared in several foreign publications at once – it looks like a planned media campaign.

‘Given that the troops left the city on March 30, where were these footage for 4 days? Their absence only confirms the fake.

‘The video with the bodies is puzzling: here, at 12 seconds, the ‘corpse’ on the right moves its hand.

‘At 30 seconds in the rearview mirror, the ‘corpse’ sits down. The bodies in the video seem to have been deliberately laid out in order to create a more dramatic picture.’

‘This is clearly seen if you play video at a speed of 0.25 of normal.’

This was shared by the Russian Ministry of Defence Telegram channel. 

Meanwhile the Kremlin today said that it categorically denied any accusations related to the murder of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, adding that Ukrainian allegations on the matter should be treated with doubt.

Yesterday Ukrainian authorities said they were investigating possible crimes by Russian forces after finding hundreds of bodies strewn around towns outside Kyiv following Russian withdrawal from the area.

‘This information must be seriously questioned,’ Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

‘From what we have seen, our experts have identified signs of video falsification and other fakes.’

Peskov said that the facts and chronology of the events in Bucha did not support Ukraine’s version of events and urged international leaders not to rush to judgment.

‘We categorically deny any accusations,’ said Peskov.

‘The situation is undoubtedly serious and we would ask that many international leaders not rush with their statements, not rush with their baseless accusations, request information from different sources, and at least listen to our explanations.’