Putin Honors Brigade Accused of Bucha Atrocities: ‘Duty, Valor, Dedication and Professionalism’
(CNSNews.com) – President Vladimir Putin on Monday honored the brigade that Ukrainian authorities have blamed for the deliberate killings of hundreds of civilians in the town of Bucha.
He praised its “fortitude and bravery during combat operations to defend the Fatherland and state interests in armed conflicts.”
“Through astute and bold actions during the special military operation in Ukraine, the unit’s staff became a role model in fulfilling its military duty, valor, dedication and professionalism,” Putin said in a message to the command and staff of the 64th Motor Rifle Brigade.
The message accompanied an executive order in which Russia’s president gave the brigade – which is based in Khabarovsk in the far east, near the Russia-China border – the honorary title “Guards.” From now on its formal name will be the 64th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.
“This high distinction recognizes your special merits, great heroism and courage in defending your Fatherland, and in protecting Russia’s sovereignty and national interests,” Putin’s message read.
“I am convinced that you, soldiers and officers – guardsmen, will continue to be faithful to your oath, serve the Fatherland with honor, and reliably ensure the safety and peaceful life of the citizens of Russia.”
Reacting to the news, Ukraine’s presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said that while some were debating whether Russia’s actions in Ukraine should be called genocide or not, it “continues to laugh in the face of the world.”
“Putin awarded the honorary ‘guard’ title ‘For heroism and courage’ to the brigade stationed in Bucha,” Podolyak wrote on Twitter. “For the murder of children and rape of women, you mean?”
The apparent show of defiance from Putin came at a time when the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and other investigators are compiling evidence of alleged war crimes and atrocities in Bucha and other towns vacated by Russian troops several weeks ago.
“Ukraine is a crime scene,” ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said while visiting Bucha last week. “We’re here because we have reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC are being committed. We have to pierce the fog of war to get to the truth.”
Crimes within the ICC’s jurisdiction are war crimes, crimes against humanity, the crime of aggression, and genocide.
The bodies of hundreds of civilians, some with hands bound and some bearing signs of torture, were found in Bucha and other small towns near Kyiv after Russian troops withdrew from the area at the end of March.
On April 3, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venedyktova put the number of civilians’ bodies found, many of them found in mass graves, at 410.
Moscow denies the allegations, claiming the evidence in Bucha was staged, and part of a “false flag attack” to blame Russians for abuses which he said were committed by Ukrainian nationalists.
‘Premeditated, preconceived campaign of brutality’
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry says the 64th Motor Rifle Brigade was the unit responsible for the atrocities, and on April 4 its main intelligence directorate published an 87-page list of names, ranks, birth dates and passport details of officers and soldiers of the brigade.
“Every Ukrainian should know their names!” it said in a Facebook post. “Remember! For crimes committed against the civilians of Ukraine, all war criminals will be brought to justice and will be prosecuted.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday the administration did not have a specific reaction, but that it “would not be surprising to see the Russian Federation herald, honor those who may have been involved in some of the worst atrocities of this conflict.”
Price said abuses committed by Russian forces in Ukraine “are not the rogue acts of a single Russian service member or even a small group” but part of “a premeditated, preconceived campaign of brutality” targeting Ukraine’s government, territorial integrity, and people.
“And that is why we are so focused on accountability, not only on those who are responsible with – through their own hands and their own work, through the deaths and the destruction in Ukraine’s towns and cities, but also all of those up the ladder who were part and sanctioned this effort of brutality against the people of Ukraine.”
After evidence pointing to atrocities emerged in Bucha President Biden, who in March had expressed the view that Putin was a war criminal, used the term “genocide” to describe Russian actions in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Defense intelligence directorate said on April 5 that while the 64th Motor Rifle Brigade was withdrawn from near Kyiv into Belarus, the military command planned to return it to the fighting within days, which it noted was sooner than is typical for Russian units leaving combat zones.
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