The shocking moment when a cyclist is killed by Russian forces in Bucha

A drone recorded the exact moment when a cyclist is killed in Bucha by Russian forces at the end of February, while accusations against Vladimir Putin for perpetrating “war crimes” continue.

The images show a person riding his bicycle on a practically empty street. At one point, the cyclist decides to get off and continue on foot with his vehicle. Upon reaching a corner, he encounters a Russian tank that starts firing. A second armored vehicle fires in the direction of the cyclist, causing a column of dust and smoke on the spot.

The video shows aerial footage shot by the Ukrainian army, when Russian forces controlled the city, and was independently verified by The New York Times.

A few weeks later, after Russian forces withdrew from Bucha, a body dressed in civilian clothes was recorded next to a bicycle in the same place in a second video verified by The New York Times. The body lies behind a concrete pole apparently collapsed by an attack. The person's clothing matches what the cyclist was wearing at the time of the attack.

The UN Office for Human Rights continues to analyze videos and other materials received about the alleged massacre in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, although they “seem to suggest” that civilians were deliberately killed there, something that would constitute a war crime, a spokeswoman said today.

“We are trying to access Bucha, we don't have direct information, but what we have seen is alarming,” office spokeswoman Liz Throssell said at a press conference.

He stressed that images showing bodies with their hands tied or burned could indicate that the aggressors were deliberately searching for such victims, which could increase the seriousness of the human rights violations committed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, if the facts were confirmed.

“Last week High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet already spoke of possible war crimes in the context of bombing civilian infrastructures, but this appears to be a direct murder of civilians,” the spokeswoman stressed, who clarified that the images still need to be verified for veracity.

“In specific incidents, forensic analysis, monitoring and information gathering are needed to determine who did what,” stressed Throssell, stating that accountability often “takes time.”

The town of Bucha, some 60 kilometers from Kiev, was occupied by Russian forces during the weeks of siege of the capital, and images of mass graves and corpses in the streets have been disseminated following the withdrawal of invading troops, during the current retreat of Russia to eastern Ukraine.

Bachelet asked on Monday that measures should be taken to preserve evidence of alleged massacres of civilians attributed to the Russian Army, according to her the only means to determine what happened, establish accountability and bring justice.

(With information from EFE)

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