Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) has intercepted talks of the Russian military discussing mass killings of civilians in the Kyiv region. It seems that these atrocities were part of the plan. Der Spiegel wrote about it today.
We read it and here are the main takeaways:
so, Der Spigel reports that in the intercepted audio recordings, the Russian military discussed the mass killings of civilians in Bucha. Sometimes – very precisely. So in one of the intercepted conversations, a Russian soldier talks about a man on a bicycle shot by him and his comrades. Photos killed people on a bicycle are one of the most famous evidence of crimes in Bucha, which spread in the world media. In another conversation, cited by Der Spiegel, it is said that people are first interrogated, then shot.
The publication also reports that the BND has evidence that Wagner’s mercenaries played a key role in the atrocities in Bucha. It is reported that this group once did the same in Syria.
Two things are particularly important in the intercepted recordings: the first, Der Spiegel, says that the intercepted conversations in Bucha were not accidental and were not something that individual soldiers did. If so determined by the investigation, it will allow to speak of it as a strategy, which could be result of order from Russian leadership. Der Spiegel reports that audio recordings show that the Russian military is committing atrocities something very ordinary, and that killing civilians seems to have become standard practice for the Russian military and part of a strategy – probably to sow fear and reduce resistance. If proven, it could allow to hold in trial not only individual soldiers for the crimes, but also the Russian leadership, including Putin, for giving these orders.
The second important thing in the piece is that Der Spiegel writes that judging by the records there are similar incidents other than Bucha in other cities. The publication points to the possibility of such happening also in the Mariupol region. If proven, it supports the first point and will allow to prove legally in court that these are not crimes of individual military, but are a sign of orders from the Russian leadership.
Of course, the Russian government continues to deny that the Russian military is responsible for these crimes against civilians. However, intercepted records completely refute the Russian government’s claims that Russia is not involved in the Bucha massacre.
Der Spiegel also adds that German intelligence informed parliamentarians of its findings on April 6 and examined other audio recordings that may point to similar events elsewhere.
On February 24, Russia attacked Ukraine. We continue to follow the development of the situation. If you have information about Russian troops movement or any other information you want to share with us, email us via [email protected] or text in telegram on @JavelinSt. For particularly sensitive data – reach out, we will send more encrypted channels.
You can also join the project, volunteer, author or support the project. Hereyou can find out how.