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Video: Kiev Territorial Defence in Bucha Given Green Light to Shoot Those Not Wearing Blue Armband

© REUTERS / ZOHRA BENSEMRAUkrainian soldiers are pictured on their military vehicle, amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine in Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 2, 2022.
Ukrainian soldiers are pictured on their military vehicle, amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine in Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 2, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 03.04.2022
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On Sunday, Moscow denied accusations that Russian troops committed "war crimes" in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, saying that scenes with corpses from the city were "staged material from the Kiev regime for the consumption of Western media."
Amid accusations against Russia over what has already been debunked by Russia's Ministry of Defence as "yet another provocation", a video released yesterday by the leader of one of Kiev’s territorial defence battalions, Sergei “Boatsman” Korotkih, titled “BOATSMAN BOYS' work in Bucha”, resurfaced on the web.
The video shows an exchange between the so-called “BOATSMAN BOYS” battalion. According to what can be heard in the video, the fighters of Kiev’s territorial defence were given the ok to shoot any man who was not wearing a blue armband - a sign worn by members of the Ukrainian forces.
The people in the video are heard saying:

- Those guys without the blue armbands, are we allowed to shoot them?

- F***, of course!

- F***, he was in such a hurry he ran over a pal, you know?

- Yeah, yeah [inaudible]

According to an investigation by Human Rights Watch into recent footage that showed Russian prisoners of war being abused in Ukraine, the perpetrators of the abuse wore blue armbands. Human Rights Watch highlighted that such armbands are often worn by Ukrainian troops. The footage in question appeared to show members of the Ukrainian forces beating and shooting captured Russian soldiers.
People, who seem to be wearing the blue armband in the video, appear to be fighters with one of Kiev's territorial defence battalions called “BOATSMAN BOYS”. The leader of said battalion and who uploaded the video has been identified as Sergei Korotkih - also known as "Boatsman". The nickname stems from an infamous neo-Nazi who was previously a member of the notorious Nazi Azov battalion, which has known for committing war crimes in Donbass.
The territorial defence battalions were created in mid-2014 to fight in the Donbass region against forces of the breakaway people's republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
The footage surfaced over the past 24 hours as various photos and videos were published by Ukraine and Western media purportedly showing "evidence" of the Russian forces' "war crimes" in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.
In particular, the footage allegedly showed corpses of civilians lying in the streets of the city, with Ukraine and the West accusing Russian troops of being responsible for the killings.
Many of the said photos and videos that illustrated Western media articles accusing Russia of committing "war crimes" in Bucha have also been shared in the "BOATSMAN BOYS" leader's Telegram channel.
At the same time, clips from the city show multiple bodies with white armbands - an insignia that identifies the individual as Russians - or without any armbands at all.
A screenshot from a video from the Ukrainian city of Bucha showing a body with a white bandage
A screenshot from a video from the Ukrainian city of Bucha showing a body with a white bandage - Sputnik International, 1920, 03.04.2022
A screenshot from a video from the Ukrainian city of Bucha showing a body with a white bandage
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday that photos and video footage from Bucha are yet another provocation, "just like what happened in Mariupol with the maternity hospital as well as in other cities."
"Not a single local resident has suffered from any violent actions while the Russian armed forces controlled the settlement," the ministry underlined.
The ministry also stressed that all Russian units completely withdrew from Bucha as early as 30 March, the day after the talks were held between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey.
This was also confirmed by the city's mayor, Anatoly Fedoruk, on 31 March.
The Russian Defence Ministry's statement came in the wake of a slew of allegations that Russian troops allegedly had committed mass killings of civilians in Bucha, with footage circulating on Western media showing bodies strewn across the streets. People were allegedly buried in mass graves, with some corpses said to have had their hands and legs tied before being shot.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called it a "deliberate massacre", and President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia was committing "genocide". Many Western countries, including Germany, the United States, France and Poland, condemned the "war crimes" in Bucha.
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