Will we ever find out exactly what and how happened in Buca? In question. In the near future, we will surely hear a lot more about the cruel murders committed in the suburbs of Kiev, a final narrative will be created, but we can only hope that it will cover the reality.

What we can say with certainty is that the unburied, civilian-clothed dead lying on the side of the road visible in the footage raise many unanswered questions. It is noteworthy that the English-language Wikipedia already provides information in a lengthy article about a war crime whose substantive investigation has practically not even begun.

"In the Bucha massacre, Russian armed forces killed civilians during the fight for and capture of the Ukrainian city of Bucha amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Photo and video footage of the massacre was released on April 1, 2022, after Russian forces withdrew from the city. According to the mayor, more than 300 residents of the city were found dead. Ukraine has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate what happened in Buca as part of its ongoing inquiry into the invasion. Russian authorities have denied any wrongdoing and described the footage and photographs of the bodies as a provocation or a stage performance by the Ukrainian authorities. These denials have been refuted by Bellingcat, Deutsche Welle, The Economist, the BBC and The New York Times.”

I don't know if we feel the absurdity of the text, that it informs as fact the identity of the perpetrators of the murders, and then that the investigation is still ongoing. But similarly, it can be taken seriously when well-known liberal media products refute the refutations, not to mention the chronological order.

What do we know for sure?

That we were not present. Fortunately. We know that for sure. And we also know that the cascade of information and disinformation is not impartial on either side. Neither from the Russians, nor from the Ukrainians, but this is true for the other interested parties as well. This is a battle between great powers, and since the competing forces are fighting for the redistribution of the world, none of the relevant speakers is impartial. Everyone belongs somewhere, they are influenced by their interests – even the average person is influenced by their emotions – their position is determined by their seat; except perhaps our opposition. Although I have already retracted this in my imagination, let's really not make fun of a dead lion.

What we know about Buca and what happened there is what we know from the news reports.

According to the Ukrainians, the Russian soldiers acted in a bestial manner when they executed civilians, including the elderly, women, and children. They have already found the person responsible, in the person of Russian lieutenant colonel Azatbek Omurbekov, who leads the 64th Special Mechanized Rifle Brigade occupying the region.

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The Russian Ministry of Defense rejected the charge of civilian murder, describing the photos and videos as a provocation by the Kiev regime, saying they were just as much made for the Western media as the scenes staged at the Mariupol home or in other cities. The Russians emphasized that their armed forces evacuated Bucsa on March 30, and on the 31st, the mayor of the city, Anatoly Fedoruk, who confirmed this in a video message, made no mention of the locals who were shot dead in the street with linked hands. "Evidence of crimes" appeared only on the fourth day, when officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) arrived in the city.

The thing is, we don't really know anything, not even about the victims. We don't know who they are, how, where and when they died.

Cui prodest?

Security policy expert and military historian Bálint Somkuti has this to say about the situation in Bucsa :

"Following the news and the video, the narrative began to focus more and more on the mass graves. This solution, the sight of corpses wrapped in blankets or black plastic bags, is undeniably brutal. However, unfortunately, due to the epidemic risk posed by mass death caused by war, mass graves can represent emergency burials just as much as actual genocide. As in so many cases, knowing the exact details would help in determining who is specifically responsible, but there is no chance of that in the current war situation and psychosis. Of course, it is possible that the behavior of the Russian army at the beginning of the campaign, aimed at sparing the population, has changed, either as a result of the losses suffered or as a result of a higher order. And it is also just as conceivable, unfortunately, that the innocent residents of Bucsa became the victims of a murderer stripped of himself for no reason. However, one thing must not be overlooked. This war is also being waged to win the support of public opinion, in addition to the goal of occupying territories. And as the saying goes, all is fair in love and war. Whatever international law says about that.”

It is therefore worth waiting for the end of the investigations with the verdict, and if the identity of the perpetrators can be identified, if the war crime can be proven, then the appropriate conclusions can be drawn. According to the current state of affairs, anyone could have committed/organized these atrocities; Russians, Ukrainians, foreign recruited mercenaries on either side, or armed civilians. Anyone.

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