It is typical for Russia to launch massive missile attacks on civilians, commit terrorist attacks in frontline cities, and abuse people under occupation. Since 2014, numerous war crimes committed by Russian troops have been recorded. For example, the recent hit to Ohmatdyt, the shelling of the Kramatorsk railway station, abuse and murder in Bucha, the shooting of a bus in Volnovakha, the downing of a Boeing-777 - some of the most large-scale tragic events that Ukrainians constantly remember.
Russian propaganda distorts the involvement of the Russian Federation in tragedies. A TRYBUN journalist analyzed famous fakes using several Russian crimes as an example and refuted them in order to preserve truthful information and get rid of the trace of propaganda in them.
Russian X-101 missile hits Ohmatdyt
During a massive missile attack on July 8, 2024, particularly in Kyiv, the Russians hit the National Children's Specialized Hospital "Ohmatdyt". As a result, 2 people died and more than 50 people were injured.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation denies the attack on the children's hospital, claiming that "a group attack was carried out with high-precision long-range weapons on the objects of the military industry of Ukraine and air bases of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The statements of the Kyiv regime`s representatives about Russia's allegedly intentional missile attack on civilian objects are completely untrue."
In addition, the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, assures that "Ohmatdyt" was hit by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile: "one of the missiles of the Western air defense system "NASAMS" hit a building on the territory of the children's hospital "Ohmatdyt" in Kyiv.
The moment of missile strike on the children's hospital was recorded on video, which quickly spread on the network. Defense Express noted that "the video does not record any signs that it has been knocked down or damaged. Also, due to the fact that the missile is in the terminal stage of the flight after the traditional “zoom climb” before hit, it did not deviate from the course."
So, "Ohmatdyt" was the target of the Russians, so the route of the missile was laid in advance.
An attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk
The shelling of the railway station took place in the morning of April 8, 2022. Due to the full-scale invasion and the intensification of hostilities, residents tried to leave Kramatorsk. According to Oleksandr Honcharenko, the head of city council, 4,000 people were at the place of the tragedy.
From the occupied Donetsk region, the Russians "fired" at the railway station "Point-U" missile with the inscription "For the children". On May 21, 2022, the SBU noted that "several complexes with "Point U" are located in the occupied territories of Donbas and have been used by the invaders for 8 years."
61 people died and another 121 were injured from the missile attack.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation spread several fakes at once. The occupiers claim that "Point-U" is allegedly used exclusively by the Ukrainian armed forces, and that the attack on the station was carried out from Dobropil.
Also, in the message of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, there is talk of using by the Armed Forces of Ukraine the local residents as "human shield" for the defense of positions. The enemy has been actively promoting this propaganda message since 2014, when the Russian-Ukrainian war began.
However, according to the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine), the fragments of the guided missile confirm Russia's involvement in the shelling and its consequences.
Volodymyr Zelensky, The President of Ukraine, reacted as follows: "Not having the strength and courage to oppose us on the battlefield, they cynically destroy the civilian population."
Russian airstrike on the Mariupol Drama Theater
The battles for Mariupol lasted from February 24 to May 20, 2022. Every day Russian troops shelled the city, so the number of victims and injured was constantly increasing. All civilian objects were subjected to missile attacks.
During the war, Mariupol became famous not only for its heroic defense, but also, unfortunately, for the terrible and tragic events - the encircling maneuver on “Azovstal” and the airstrike on the drama theater, where locals were hiding.
At 10 a.m. on March 16, 2022, Russia dropped two 500-kilogram air bombs on the Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theater. The number of dead varies from 300 to 600 people.
The Ministry of Defense of Russian Federation did not acknowledge its involvement and reported that the Russian aviation did not perform any tasks in Mariupol on the afternoon of March 16.
At the same time, the "Azov" battalion was accused of mining and undermining the theater: "According to reliable information, the militants of the nationalist "Azov" battalion committed a new bloody provocation, blew up the theater building they mined...", "...in the theater building, the Nazis of the "Azov" battalion could to hold hostages of civilians, using the upper floors as firing points".
Amnesty International has conducted a thorough investigation confirming the commission of a war crime by Russia and published the report "Children: Attack on the Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theater in Mariupol, Ukraine".
The report states that "during the war, the Donetsk Regional Academic Drama Theater became a refuge for civilians getting off other parts of the city in order not to become victims of violence. It also served as a center for distributing food, water and providing important information about the long-awaited "green corridors" and an assembly point for evacuation."
Refuting the information about the presence of the Ukrainian military in the theater or the use of the building for its own purposes are the facts provided by Amnesty International from people who were at the scene of the explosion: “none of the 28 people who survived the attack ... as well as any other witness was in or near the theater on the day of the attack, has not provided Amnesty with any information indicating that the Ukrainian military used the theater as a base of operations, a place to store weapons or launch attacks."
The study also describes the consequences of the air strike on drama theater: "Most likely, the attack was carried out by Russian fighters using two 500-kilogram bombs that hit close to each other and detonated at the same time."
So, Russian troops purposefully hit the Mariupol Drama Theater. The inscription "Children", which was written in front of the building as a designation of a civilian object, and which is visible from a height, did not stop the occupiers.
Acts of atrocity of Russians in occupied Bucha
Russian troops entered the city in Kyiv region on February 27, 2022. For 33 days, the occupiers brutally abused the locals. Residents of various age categories, including the elderly and children, were subjected to kidnapping, rape, murder, and torture. Ukrainian troops liberated Bucha on March 31, 2022.
As of March 31, 2024, the National Police of Ukraine reports that "the number of killed and tortured in Bucha is not final, there are still missing persons, and the search for them continues." After the de-occupation of the city, 422 murdered residents were found, "a total of 1,190 bodies were found in the Bucha district."
Russia again does not acknowledge for the crimes committed, but only spreads fakes. For example, the ambassador at large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russian Federation, Rodion Miroshnyk, says that "Kyiv is purposefully talking ear off the details of the bloody show in Bucha, and Russia does not have the opportunity to investigate it yet."
The Russian side also notes that "two years have passed, we have not received any official lists of people who died during this tragedy that occurred in Bucha."
In a comment dated April 2, 2024, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, writes that "Zelensky's regime and its Western curators made a bloody staging of the alleged mass murder of local residents by Russian military in the city of Bucha, Kyiv region."
Zakharova accuses Ukrainian arm forces of shelling the civilian population, and mass media of producing so-called "propaganda" content.
The statements of the Russian Federation are refuted by well-known facts.
On April 3, 2022, ex-advisor to the head of the President's Office, Oleksiy Arestovich, published on Twitter a list of Russian units that committed crimes in Bucha.
And the OSCE report on violations of international humanitarian law and human rights, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine (April 1 - June 25, 2022) recorded what exactly happened in the occupied Bucha and the history of the residents.
Here are some stories from the report.
"So on March 7, 2022, Vasyl Yushchenko from Bucha was injured in the neck when he went out to smoke on the closed balcony of his apartment. Three days later, the man, whose personality has not been released, was shot dead while trying to escape from Russian troops. A 9-year-old girl who was shot with him survived, but her arm was amputated. Civilians who tried to leave the territory in their cars were also killed."
"The five bodies found in the basement of the children's sanatorium in Bucha also had signs of abuse, and in fact there is assumption that this basement may have been used as a torture chamber during the Russian occupation."
"One of the victims of sexual violence was 23-year-old Karina Yershova from Bucha. During the Russian occupation of the city, she was kidnapped, raped, tortured and finally shot. There are also some reports of the collective rape or the rape in plain view of family members, including children.”
"Also, in the village of Zabuchcha, Bucha district, 18 trancated bodies of murdered men, women and children were found in the basement: some had their ears cut off, others had their teeth pulled out"
As of today, the identification of persons who abused the civilian population in Bucha is ongoing.
The shelling of the bus near Volnovakha
One of the acts of terrorism committed by Russian troops at the beginning of the war was the shelling of a bus with civilians near Volnovakha on January 13, 2015, from the side of occupied Dokuchaievsk.
The bus was going from Zlatoustivka to Donetsk. At approximately 2 p.m., it stopped at the Ukrainian checkpoint for passport control. Then the occupiers fired 88 shells from three BM-21 "Grad" multiple-launch rocket systems. One of the missiles exploded in 12 meters from the bus.
According to the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, the terrorist attack was carried out by a division under the leadership of Anatoly Synelnikov, a colonel of the Russian Armed Forces.
It is known that 12 passengers died and another 19 were injured.
Russia's reaction to the terrorist act - the accusation of Ukrainian armed forces. Allegedly, they deliberately exploded the bus because the driver did not stop at the roadblock.
Moreover, Russian "specialists" claim that "the bus was exploded directly at the roadblock of the Ukrainian armed forces, and then fired from the Kalashnikov gun. The agency also notes that after the detonation of the bus "in order to cover the tracks" it could have been the shelling from the "Grad".
However, this is only Russian propaganda.
The investigation of the Prosecutor General's Office confirms that it was Russian troops who fired on civilians.
Also, on April 4, 2021, the Office reported that "the head of the unit of the "Oplot" battalion was sentenced to life imprisonment", who ordered the shelling of the Ukrainian roadblock, where civilians were located.
Boeing 777 shot down over Donbass
Ten years ago, on July 17, 2014, the Russians shot down a Boeing 777 over the occupied territory of Donetsk region. It belonged to Malaysia Airlines and was on flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
It was the largest tragedy in which 298 people died - all who were on board.
Recalling this event, the occupiers are spreading false information that the plane was shot down by Ukraine: "Ten years have passed since Ukrainians shot down a passenger Malaysian Boeing-777. The presence on board of 193 Dutchmen did not embarrass the Kyiv regime, which is used to sacrificing people for its own interests."
We find out the truth and refute another Russian fake.
All countries were involved in the investigation of the disappearance of the Boeing 777, the entire international community was involved.
The Joint Investigative Group (JIT), which included the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia, Belgium, and Ukraine, concluded that "flight MH17 was shot down by a Buk missile of the 9M38 series. The missile was launched from the "Buk" TELAR brought from the Russian Federation to a farm field near Pervomaysky in Eastern Ukraine. At that time, that ares was under the control of the separatists. After the firing, the installation together with the missing missile was transported back to the Russian Federation"
The State Prosecutor's Office of the Netherlands accused Girkin, Dubinsky, Pulatov and Kharchenko of the crash of flight MH17 and the murder of all 298 people on the board.
We explain:
- In 2014, Ihor Girkin (Strelkov) held the position of the so-called "Minister of Defense" in the occupied Donetsk region (guilty proven)
- Serhiy Dubynsky "Gloomy"( Khmury) - a Russian general, managed the intelligence service in the occupied Donetsk region (sentenced to life in absentia)
- Oleh Pulatov "Gyurza" - in 2014 he was involved in intelligence service in the occupied Donetsk region (the court found him innocent).
- Leonid Kharchenko "Mole" (Krot) - was also involved in intelligence service (sentenced to life in absentia)
So, research results, court verdicts, photos are evidence that Russia shot down a civilian Boeing 777, as a result of which people died.
These are not all large-scale war crimes committed by Russian troops. Due to the daily shelling of Ukraine, their number is increasing. Unfortunately, Russia's actions in the occupied territories remain unknown. Residents do not have the opportunity to tell what is happening in their settlements, people's stories. However, this will become known after the de-occupation or departure of residents to the territory of Ukraine.
