Zakharova Accuses Britain of Orchestrating Bucha Narrative

By Staff, Agencies

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has accused Britain of orchestrating the narrative surrounding the 2022 Bucha killings in Ukraine, claiming a new investigation into the alleged victims supports Moscow’s long-standing assertion that the incident was fabricated.

Zakharova described the Bucha events as a “brazen falsification” allegedly commissioned by Ukraine’s foreign supporters and amplified by Western media to undermine prospects for a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

She singled out the UK government and said the BBC played a “key role” in disseminating the narrative.

Russian forces withdrew from Bucha and other areas of the Kiev Region in March 2022, which Moscow described as a goodwill gesture intended to support negotiations in Istanbul.

Images of bodies in Bucha subsequently emerged in international media, prompting widespread accusations against Russia.

Zakharova argued that no publicly verifiable list of the alleged victims has been provided by the UN, Ukrainian authorities, international organizations, or Western media despite repeated Russian requests.

She claimed the absence of such documentation indicates that the incident was falsified and accused UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of becoming “part of this provocation.”

A report presented Thursday by Maksim Grigoriev, head of the International Public Tribunal on Crimes of Ukrainian Neo-Nazis, examined more than 500 names listed on a Bucha memorial.

According to the report, researchers cross-checked the names against Ukrainian media, military records, and social media accounts.

Grigoriev claimed that people whose identities researchers were able to establish were Ukrainian servicemen, including members of Azov and territorial-defense units, rather than civilians allegedly killed by Russian forces.

The report further claimed that the identified servicemen had little or no connection to Bucha and were killed and buried elsewhere.

These findings were presented by Russian officials as evidence supporting Moscow’s allegations concerning the Bucha narrative.