Press Release, 4.04.2022

Photo from the official website of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation

Boris Vishnevsky, Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party and an MP of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, put his signature under an open appeal to Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee, with a call to investigate the crimes in the town of Bucha, the Kyiv reigon. The appeal runs that the tragic events in this city may indicate a violation of Article 356 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on the use of prohibited means and methods of warfare.

Famous film director Alexander Sokurov, journalist and historian Nikolai Svanidze, priest Grigory Mikhnov-Vaitenko, and human rights defender Natalya Yevdokimova also signed the open appeal.

“We ask you to conduct a prompt investigation into the circumstances of the killings of civilians in the town of Bucha, and in every possible way contribute to the international investigation of these events by providing the necessary materials and the opportunity to obtain testimony from representatives of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and other Russian law enforcement agencies who were in the town of Bucha,” the appeal runs.

A significant number of killed civilians (over 400 people, according to the Ukrainian authorities) were found in the town of Bucha near Kyiv, which had been under the control of the Russian Armed Forces in March 2022. The international human rights organisation Human Rights Watch claims to dispose of evidence of war crimes and extrajudicial executions of civilians committed in Bucha. Numerous photographs and videos published show the killings of civilians, including women subjected to rape and children.