A satellite image analysis conducted by The New York Times appears to disprove Moscow's claims that the massacre in Bucha, Ukraine happened after Russian soldiers had left the town around March 30.
After gruesome images out of Bucha emerged over the weekend, the Russian Ministry of Defense denied responsibility for any of the killings and decried the reports as a "hoax." On Sunday, the ministry even suggested the bodies were placed on the street after Russian troops withdrew, the Times writes.
However, a Times review of video and satellite images shows that "many of the civilians were killed more than three weeks ago, when Russia's military was in control of the town."
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For example, when cross-referenced with a video filmed April 2, satellite images provided to the Times showed that at least 11 bodies seen in the April 2 video had been on the street since March 11, "when Russia, by its own account, occupied the town," the Times writes.
More specifically, the images show human body-sized objects on Yablonska Street in Bucha between March 9 and March 11. The objects "appear in the precise positions in which the bodies were found after Ukrainian forces reclaimed Bucha, as the footage from April 2 shows," the Times adds. Further examination reveals the objects were in those positions for more than three weeks.
The situation out of Bucha has so far sparked international condemnation and promises of more sanctions on Russia. Germany and France on Monday expelled numerous Russian diplomats, while President Biden called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to be tried for war crimes.
