Status: 07.04.2022 5:08 p.m
The BND can apparently prove forensically that Russian nationals are responsible for the atrocities in Bucha. Mercenaries from private security companies are also said to have been involved.
By Michael Götschenberg, ARD Capital Studio
On Wednesday, the BND informed members of the Bundestag about its findings on the events in Butscha in several confidential meetings. What the service presented was shocking, according to faction circles.
For example, the BND was able to reconstruct what happened in Butscha and who was responsible for it by evaluating satellite recordings, publicly accessible videos that were distributed via social media, for example, and intercepted radio messages. That became dem ARD Capital Studio confirmed in parliamentary groups in the Bundestag. The “Spiegel” reported about it first.
Accordingly, it is said that the BND can clearly prove forensically that Russian nationals are responsible for the murder of the civilians. The Kremlin has so far emphatically denied any responsibility.
Army members and private mercenaries
Specifically, an air storm regiment and another unit of the Russian army are associated with the crimes, according to faction circles. Using satellite images, the BND has proven which Russian units were on site at the time in question.
In addition, the BND has indications that mercenaries employed by private Russian security companies were also involved in the atrocities.
In the past few weeks there has been repeated talk of the use of mercenaries by the so-called Wagner Group in Ukraine. Among other things, the British Ministry of Defense had informed that there were corresponding findings. Group circles say the BND assumes that mercenaries from another private Russian security company were involved in Butscha.
BND experts also read the deputies several radio messages relating to the killings in Bucha that the service intercepted in southern Ukraine. In it, Russian soldiers are said to be talking about the shooting of a person who was cycling in Bucha. The radio message refers to the harrowing photos that have caused horror around the world, which also show people being shot while riding bicycles.
More war crimes feared
The statements shed light on how war crimes are assessed in the Russian army. The extent of misanthropy and cynicism with which the deeds are spoken of is shocking, according to faction circles. This in turn raises fears that there could be more war crimes of this kind.
The BND is assuming that the murder of the civilians in Butscha did not take place on the soldiers’ own initiative, but in accordance with instructions from the military leadership. The BND wants to make the results of its investigation available to the Federal Public Prosecutor, who has already started investigating war crimes in Ukraine.