Russia denies killing civilians in Bucha, but acknowledges a pullback of forces.
Reports of atrocities committed by retreating Russian forces in the town of Bucha near Kyiv are “fake,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement posted on Telegram on Sunday, in what was also a rare acknowledgment that its troops were withdrawing from the area.
The statement, reposted by the ministry on the messaging app from an account that debunks claims made against the Russian war effort in Ukraine, said that the country’s forces had left Bucha on Wednesday.
Without providing any evidence, it claimed that Ukrainian forces had shelled the area following the Russian retreat, which led to losses of civilians. It also referred to a video posted by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Twitter that showed the aftermath of the withdrawal, claiming that one of the corpses in Bucha “is moving its hand.”
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