Videos show Russian soldiers leading a group of Ukrainian captives at gunpoint moments before they were executed in Bucha, report says
- A photo taken in Bucha in April showed a group of Ukrainian men who appeared to have been executed.
- A NYT investigation showed the men were in custody of Russian troops before apparently being killed.
Videos from Bucha, Ukraine, appeared to show a group of Ukrainian captives being led at gunpoint by Russian troops moments before they were executed.
The videos, obtained and verified by The New York Times, were taken on March 4 by a security camera and a civilian who witnessed the ordeal.
The security camera footage showed a group of nine Ukrainians hunched over, holding the pants of the person in front of them and some with their hands placed over their heads, crossing a street in a single file. Two Russian soldiers with guns can be seen at the front and back of the group, directing the line.
Eight witnesses told The Times the captives were then taken behind an office building, gunshots were heard, and the group did not reappear.
Additional drone footage obtained by The Times confirmed the witness accounts, showing the groups' bodies beside an office building as Russian soldiers stood over them.
The videos were not independently verified by Insider.
The group of apparently executed men from the videos were also seen in a photo taken April 3. The Times said its investigation, published Thursday, uncovered the "clearest evidence yet" that Russian forces intentionally executed the group, "directly implicating these forces in a likely war crime."
Reports of atrocities and executions poured out of Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, after Russian forces began retreating in late March. Stories and images from Bucha fueled international calls for a war crimes trial against Russia.
Russian officials have repeatedly dismissed reports of atrocities committed in Bucha, calling them "fake."