Caught on Camera, Traced by Phone: The Russian Military Unit That Killed Dozens in Bucha - The New York Times

When videos and photos emerged successful April showing bodies of dozens of civilians strewn on a thoroughfare successful Bucha, Ukrainians and the remainder of the satellite voiced fearfulness and outrage. But successful Russia, officials had a wholly antithetic reaction: denial.

President Vladimir V. Putin dismissed the gruesome country arsenic “a provocation,” and claimed that the Russian Army had thing to bash with it.

But an eight-month visual investigation by The New York Times concluded that the perpetrators of the massacre on Yablunska Street were Russian paratroopers from the 234th Air Assault Regiment led by Lt. Col. Artyom Gorodilov.

The grounds shows that the killings were portion of a deliberate and systematic effort to ruthlessly unafraid a way to the capital, Kyiv. Soldiers interrogated and executed unarmed men of warring age, and killed radical who unwittingly crossed their paths — whether it was children fleeing with their families, locals hoping to find groceries oregon radical simply trying to get backmost location connected their bicycles.

We identified 36 of the Ukrainian victims killed on Yablunska Street. Read much astir their last moments.

Times reporters spent months successful Bucha aft Russian forces withdrew, interviewing residents, collecting immense troves of information camera footage and obtaining exclusive records from authorities sources. In New York, Times investigators analyzed the materials and reconstructed the killings on this 1 thoroughfare down to the minute. Some of the astir damning grounds implicating the 234th included telephone records and decoded telephone signs utilized by commanders connected Russian vigor channels.

It each points to a brazen and bloody run that turned a quiescent suburban thoroughfare into what residents present telephone the “road of death.”

Historically, journalists and investigators relied connected a azygous photograph oregon video to exposure wartime atrocities. In 1992, Time mag published a photo of an emaciated captive successful Bosnia connected its cover. Almost 20 years later, a video captured the execution of captured Tamil Tiger fighters successful the last days of Sri Lanka’s civilian war.

What differentiates the grounds discovered successful Bucha are the standard and item that nexus a azygous portion and its commandant to circumstantial killings, with imaginable implications for ongoing investigations. The International Criminal Court (I.C.C.) is already investigating imaginable warfare crimes and different atrocities successful Ukraine.

“This benignant of integer grounds is simply a oversea change, particularly compared to past investigations specified arsenic successful the erstwhile Yugoslavia,” said Matthew Gillett, a elder lecturer astatine the University of Essex who antecedently worked astatine planetary transgression courts. “If immoderate Ukraine cases extremity up astatine an planetary tribunal specified arsenic the I.C.C., it has to person a important video component.”

Here are immoderate of the main takeaways of the investigation.

A Paratrooper Unit Emerges arsenic the Culprit

While assorted subject units were contiguous successful Bucha — and the decease toll crossed the metropolis reached over 400 — The Times identified the 234th Regiment, a paratrooper portion based successful the metropolis of Pskov successful occidental Russia, arsenic the main culprit successful the Yablunska Street killings. Airborne units similar this are considered immoderate of the champion trained and equipped successful the Russian military. Evidence of the 234th’s engagement includes subject equipment, azygous badges, vigor chatter and packing slips connected munition crates. Military experts from Janes and the Institute for the Study of War provided insights astir Russian armored vehicles and their markings arsenic good arsenic tactical operations seen successful the ocular evidence.

Phone Records arsenic Digital Fingerprints

Residents successful Bucha said that erstwhile Russian soldiers interrogated them, they often seized their phones. Suspecting the soldiers whitethorn besides person taken the phones of victims, our reporters obtained from Ukrainian authorities a database of each calls and messages placed from the Bucha portion to Russia during March. As we interviewed victims’ relatives, we collected their telephone numbers and checked if they were successful the database. A chilling signifier emerged: soldiers routinely utilized the phones of victims to telephone location to Russia, often lone hours aft they were killed.

By analyzing the telephone numbers dialed by Russian soldiers and uncovering societal media profiles associated with their household members, The Times confirmed the individuality of 2 twelve paratroopers arsenic members of the 234th Regiment. In galore cases, we interviewed their relatives and spoke to immoderate of the soldiers themselves, 2 of whom confirmed they were successful the 234th and served successful Bucha. We cross-referenced our findings with idiosyncratic information sourced from leaked and authoritative Russian databases provided by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit radical focused connected planetary security.

Mothers, Fathers, Children: Ordinary Citizens arsenic Victims

The Times identified — for the archetypal clip — three twelve radical who were killed on Yablunska Street successful March. We reviewed decease certificates for astir of these victims, and the predominant origin of decease was gunshot wounds.

The victims were residents of Bucha oregon neighboring towns, from each ages and professions. Among the victims killed by Russian paratroopers were 52-year-old Tamila Mishchenko and her 14-year-old daughter, Anna, connected March 5. They were among 4 women fleeing Bucha erstwhile Russian soldiers fired connected their bluish minivan.

Nearly each the victims we identified connected Yablunska Street were civilians oregon Ukrainian P.O.W.s. Killing them could beryllium prosecuted by the International Criminal Court and deemed warfare crimes nether planetary humanitarian law. Because of their systematic and wide nature, the killings successful Bucha could besides magnitude to crimes against humanity. Russia has not joined the I.C.C. and is improbable to cooperate connected immoderate imaginable aboriginal cases that impact Russian soldiers.

The Killings Were Not Random Acts of Violence

The victims connected Yablunska Street did not dice successful the crossfire betwixt Russian and Ukrainian forces, nor were they mistakenly changeable successful the fog of war. Our probe shows that Russian troops intentionally killed them, seemingly arsenic portion of a systematic “clearing” cognition to unafraid the way to the capital. Dozens of civilians were changeable dead. In different cases, men suspected of links to the Ukrainian subject were rounded up and executed.

Dereliction successful the Chain of Command

Lt. Col. Artyom Gorodilov, the regiment commandant astatine the helm of the 234th, oversaw operations of the paratrooper portion successful Bucha. Times investigators obtained documents that confirmed the telephone motion helium utilized erstwhile communicating implicit the vigor with his troops. Security cameras on Yablunska Street captured immoderate of this vigor chatter, establishing that Lt. Col. Gorodilov was successful command, and 2 soldiers successful the 234th who served successful Bucha confirmed successful interviews that helium was there.

After Russian troops retreated from the Kyiv region, Lt. Col. Gorodilov received a promotion to colonel successful April from the then-head of the airborne forces, Col. Gen. Andrey Serdyukov. The ceremonial was held days aft the shocking images from Bucha emerged.

Neither General Serdyukov nor Colonel Gorodilov’s contiguous superior astatine the time, Maj. Gen. Sergey Chubarykin, has publically announced immoderate investigations into the carnage successful the municipality contempt the planetary outrage implicit the images. As superior officers, they yet reply for the actions of the forces nether their command. By neither stopping nor investigating the atrocities successful Bucha, they could yet carnivore work for them.

The Russian Ministry of Defense, the Russian Embassy successful Washington and Colonel Gorodilov did not respond to requests for comment.

Reporting was contributed by Evan Hill, Ishaan Jhaveri and Julian Barnes.
Translations and probe by Aleksandra Koroleva, Oksana Nesterenko and Milana Mazaeva.