Aerial picture taken on April 18, 2022 of coffins being buried in Bucha
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Vladimir Putin has honoured a Russian military brigade accused of massacring civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
The Kremlin published a presidential order on Monday which granted the honorary title of ‘Guards’ to the 64th Motor Rifle Brigade for its service in Ukraine.
According to the decree, the designation was given because of the unit’s “mass heroism and valour, tenacity and courage in military action to defend the Motherland and interests of the state in an armed conflict”.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian officials named the Russian military units involved in the occupation of Bucha, where the slaughter of civilians has shocked the world.
The 64th Brigade was among the dozen military units named as being involved.
Ukrainian officials say more than 720 people were killed in Bucha and other areas near to Kyiv which were occupied by Russian forces. Hundreds more are considered missing.
The mayor of the town, Anatoliy Fedoruk, said last week the authorities had so far found 403 bodies of people after Russian withdrawal.
However, he warned the number was expected to rise higher as searches continued.
Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv’s regional police force, said Friday at least 900 bodies had been found around Kyiv’s suburbs.
Ukrainian officials also reported that 25 women and girls, some as young as 14, were “systematically raped” by Russian troops during the occupation of the town.
On a visit last week, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan QC, described the town as a “crime scene” as he vowed that his team would help “separate truth from fiction”.
Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians during the invasion, and has claimed, without offering evidence, that pictures and footage of civilian corpses in Bucha were a “monstrous forgery”.
Russia has now begun a renewed offensive on the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday.
“No matter how many Russian troops are driven there, we will fight. We will defend ourselves. We will do it every day,” he said, adding that a “significant part” of Mr Putin’s army was now concentrated on the new offensive.
