New Delhi: Russia has blamed Ukrainian forces for firing on civilians in Bucha city near Kiev and alleged that its provoking the Russians for posting videos and pictures as it claimed that it had withdrew on March 30.
"We would like to emphasise that all Russian units withdrew completely from Bucha as early as March 30, the day after the Russia-Ukraine face-to-face round of talks in Turkey," a statement from Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday.
"The Ukrainian forces shot at people in Bucha, Kiev regionm regardless of whether they were carrying weapons or not. The main thing was that they were wearing white armbands. All the photos and videos published by the Kiev regime allegedly testifying to some 'crimes' committed by Russian servicemen in Bucha, Kiev region are just another provocation."
It said during the time that the town has been under the control of the Russian armed forces, not a single local resident has suffered from any violent action.
Russian servicemen have delivered and distributed 452 tonnes of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Kiev region, the Ministry added.
It said that as long as the city was under the control of the Russian armed forces, locals in Bucha were moving freely.
It further claimed that exits from Bucha were not blocked and local residents were free to leave the town in northern direction, including to Belarus.
At the same time, the southern outskirts of the city, including residential areas, were shelled round the clock by Ukrainian troops with large-calibre artillery, tanks and multiple launch rocket systems, the Ministry said.
It said that on March 31 when the Mayor of Bucha Anatoliy Fedoruk confirmed in a video message that there were no Russian servicemen in the town, he did not mention the civilian deaths.
The so-called "evidence of crimes" in Bucha did not emerge until the fourth day, when the Security Service of Ukraine and representatives of Ukrainian media arrived in the town.
"All this confirms conclusively that the photos and video footage from Bucha are another production by the Kiev regime for the Western media, as was the case in Mariupol with the maternity hospital, as well as in other cities." the statement added.
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