Russian Digest 4/7

Top daily stories I'm keeping an eye on

1. Meduza obtained files containing high-quality videos depicting the southern districts of the city of Bucha, Kyiv region. The recording was made from a drone. According to the file metadata, these videos were filmed over several days, from March 23 to 30, 2022 (read more below). The recordings that we are publishing are another very important piece of evidence (along with satellite imagery in  The New York Times ), which shows that people in Bucha were definitely killed even before the Russian troops retreated from the city. What can be seen in the drone footage obtained by Meduza?

   On these records, you can see the bodies of those killed lying on Yablonska Street, as well as on several neighboring streets of Bucha. We geolocated the location of the bodies, and it completely coincided with the location of the bodies, which on April 1 and 2, 2022, after the retreat of the Russian troops from the city, the Ukrainian police and journalists filmed and photographed from the ground. It is important to note thatall the dead, filmed from the air, lie not only in the same places, but also in the same poses as on filming from the ground.

   In several videos, next to the bodies (at a distance of several tens to several hundred meters), you can see military equipment similar to the equipment used by Russian airborne units (probably BMD and BTR-D). On one of the recordings, people can be distinguished next to one of these combat vehicles. At this time, the bodies of the dead continue to lie a few tens of meters from the location of the military.

   On the shooting of March 29 and 30, Russian military equipment was not in the same place. It is March 30 that the Russian Ministry of Defense calls the day of the withdrawal of troops from Bucha.

   Why is it important?

   So far, the main objective documentary evidence that those killed in Bucha died during the presence of Russian troops there has been satellite imagery of the city from Maxar. The footage, dated by the company to mid-March, shows "objects resembling human bodies" on Yablonska Street. However, Russian pro-Kremlin bloggers used astronomical shadow analysis to prove that the Maxar filming took place on April 1, when Ukrainian troops entered Bucha.

   We not only obtained alternative documentary evidence of the presence of Russian troops in Bucha at the time when civilians were killed there, but also independently dated the resulting imagery using astronomical measurements..  via Meduza

   2. Germany’s foreign intelligence service claims to have intercepted radio communications in which Russian soldiers discuss carrying out indiscriminate killings in Ukraine.

   In two separate communications, Russian soldiers described questioning Ukrainian soldiers as well as civilians and then shooting them, according to an intelligence official familiar with the findings who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity. via Washington Post

   3. Congress voted overwhelmingly on April 7 to suspend normal trade relations with Russia and ban the importation of its oil. The Senate approved the two bills with 100-0 votes. The measures will now go to U.S. President Joe Biden to be signed into law. via AP

   4. Facebook-owner Meta says it removed a hacking campaign in which Russian-linked hackers attempted to break into the accounts of Ukrainian military officers to upload videos of surrendering Ukrainian soldiers.

   It was just one example of a rise in hacking and disinformation amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, detailed by the social media giant in a report released on Thursday. via Euronews

   5.FINALLY! The United Nations General Assembly voted Thursday to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council after high-profile allegations of atrocities committed by Russian soldiers during the war in Ukraine.

   The voting result was 93 in favor, 24 against and 58 abstentions. via CNN