Ukrainian prosecutors say the suspects were ordered by a sergeant to arrest the civilians and detain them at two locations on Anatoly Mikhailovsky Street in Bucha. At one point, they said, the Russian sergeant ordered a citizen to kneel, hit him with a butt and then shot at him but failed. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin disgusted Ukrainians and Western leaders last week by awarding medals to Russian soldiers involved in the Bucha massacre. He also promoted a Russian officer known as the “Butcher of Bucha” to the rank of colonel and praised the unit for its “heroism and courage.” The officer, Azatbek Omurbekov, was sanctioned by the British government last week for committing “heinous acts” near Kyiv. The Ukrainian government has described the officer as “executioner, murderer, rapist” and “looter”. It came as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hailed a thorough war crimes investigation in Bucha after a meeting with Putin. “I fully support the International Criminal Court and call on the Russian Federation to accept it. [sic] “to co-operate with the International Criminal Court,” he said on Thursday. Ukrainian war crimes investigators are using social media to track down Russian soldiers who were known to be in Bhutan when the atrocities took place. “Our goal is to identify every criminal who has committed a crime, for every crime to find its perpetrator,” said Ruslan Kravchenko, the attorney general for war crimes in Bucha.
