The Russian Defense Ministry has accused Ukrainian soldiers of carrying out "another set-up" on the outskirts of kyiv, this time in the village of Moshún, and has again held Russian troops responsible for the alleged massacre of civilians, according to news agencies.
Defense spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said that "on the evening of April 4, personnel from the 72nd Information and Psychological Operations Center staged another reenactment in the town of Moshún, 23 kilometers northwest of kyiv, filming civilians allegedly killed by Russian forces and then broadcasting the video to Western media."
Konashenkov added that the Ukrainian security services are making similar setups these days in Sumi, Konotop and other cities.
The village of Moshún, with fewer than 1,000 inhabitants, is located in the same district as Bucha, the scene of the alleged massacre of hundreds of civilians that the Russian Ministry of Defense describes as a "staged set-up" to discredit Russia.
The West ignores that facts in Bucha are false
On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia systematically explains its position on the situation in Bucha, but the collective West is unwilling to listen.
He noted that the Russian position had previously been "quite systematically explained" by Permanent Representative to the UN Vasiliy Nebenzya and the Ministry of Defence.
"The information was provided. But on the other hand, there is an impression that the collective West has simply closed its eyes and ears with blinds and does not want to hear anything. Unfortunately, this is a reality, [but], despite all that, we still intend to actively promote our arguments," the spokesman said.
Commenting on the possibility of an investigation into Bucha's situation, the spokesperson said: "It is necessary to consider how possible a truly impartial, unbiased and neutral investigation is at this stage."
"We continue to insist that all accusations against Russia, against the Russian military are not simply unfounded, but a well-managed show, nothing but a tragic spectacle," Peskov said.
According to the spokesman, all the progress of events, a large amount of information, facts and other parameters clearly demonstrate that the situation in Bucha is a fake, designed to smear the Russian army.
"They will not succeed; we once again call, first and foremost, on the members of the UN Security Council, on Western leaders to refrain from emotional perception, based on nothing, and simply think rationally and try to juxtapose the facts, in order to understand what kind of horrible falsification we are talking about," the spokesman said.
He also noted that Russian diplomats are continuing their attempts to deliver information to the United Nations.
“Our diplomats are working at the UN, the work continues. You know that our work is being undermined in an unprecedented way, our initiatives are being blocked, but despite that, we will not sit idly by,” concluded Peskov.
The situation in Bucha
On April 3, the Russian Defense Ministry debunked kyiv’s allegations of killing civilians in the town of Bucha, kyiv region. The ministry stated that Russian forces had already completely left Bucha on March 30, while “evidence of crimes” only appeared four days later, when officers of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) arrived in Bucha.
The Defense Ministry also stressed that on March 31, Bucha Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk confirmed that there were no Russian forces in the town, without mentioning any civilians shot. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the situation in Bucha a “fake news attack.”
On Monday, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vasiliy Nebenzya held an emergency press conference after the UK, which currently chairs the UN Security Council, rejected Russian requests for a meeting in Bucha dos times in a day. During the press conference, Russian diplomats presented video footage taken in Bucha immediately after the withdrawal of Russian forces: there were no bodies in the streets.
