In early July 2024, the Russian media spoke about the trial of a Czech citizen, who was accused of committing war crimes in Buch. We checked whether it is correct to use his testimony as evidence of the involvement of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces in the killings and rape of residents of the Kyiv region.
July 3, 2024 in Prague It has begun The trial of Philip Siman, who in 2022 fought on the side of the Armed Forces in the Kyiv region. The Russian media that wrote about the process released notes with loud headlines: “The Czech Mercenary of the Armed Forces of Ukraine admitted to the execution of people in Buch” (“Arguments and facts")," Atrocious in Bucha, mocked the dead: in the Czech Republic they are judged by the Mercenary Medication for looting in Ukraine "("Moscow Komsomolets")," The former Czech mercenary admitted in court that he was an executioner in Ukraine "("Channel One"). In the Russian -speaking Telegram, the court of the trial of Siman, according to TGSTAT, scored more than 11 million views. In particular, posts about this published channels "Tsargrad-TV"(1.8 million views at the time of writing this analysis),"The world today with "Yuri Podolyak""(1.7 million)," "Operation Z: Warrixes of Russian Spring"(432 000),"Pozdnyakov 3.0"(364 000),"Newsach / Dv"(260,000) and"RT in Russian"(176 000).
Blogger Anatoly Shariy was one of the first to have a connection between the confessions of Siman and murders of civilians in Buch in March 2022, in which Kyiv accuses Russian military. July 5 in its Telegram channel (955,000 views) Sharia quoted The statement made by a volunteer in court (“We were a police, we were a court, we were a firing detachment, since it went to that”), and added: “Is this not about corpses in the basements?” In the video that Sharia Published Four days later in YouTube (1.3 million views), it suggestedthat, in addition to Russian prisoners of war, Siman’s detachment shot civilians, whom the APU fighters considered Russian collaborators. Shary Commented And Siman’s words that in the war zone he “first saw a rape”: “The rape of whom could he see? Rape by Russian soldiers of a civilian citizen? How could he see it? Most likely, Siman was present when the Ukrainian troops rape someone. Whom? Russian captured or still Ukrainian civilians? Do you understand that it is opened after this? " Russian edition Deita The indirect confession of guilt in the rape of Buchi residents also saw in the words of Siman: “Moreover, [Siman] also said that he was a witness to rape. <...> It was unlikely that these were Russian citizens. ”
Buch-a small city north-west of Kyiv-Russian troops occupied shortly after the beginning of a full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. Occupation of this suburbs of the Ukrainian capital continued More than a month. When Ukrainian troops entered Buch on March 31 and hit Journalists from different countries, they See the bodies of the murdered civilians who Found Along the roads, in the courtyards of private houses, basements, mass graves and cars. For some dead Hands were tied behind his back, and on the corpses there were traces of torture and rape. By data The local authorities, in Buch and the surroundings during the occupation, killed 458 civilians, including 419 were killed. UN representatives in December 2022 Reportedthat 73 people documented the violent death and investigate 105 more alleged murders in the Kiev suburb.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky I visited In Buch a few days after her release. Communicating with journalists and local residents, Ukrainian leader accused Russia in the commission of war crimes and genocide. Then the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation Name Photo and video conducting from buch with setting and provocation. This point of view has been sequentially for more than two years express Russian officials, including Vladimir Putin. In 2022 "Retrieved" Disassembled some statements authorities of the Russian Federation, who Tried Prove the non -involvement of the Russian armed forces to the murder of civilians of Buchi.
Since 2023 in the Czech Republic in custody located Citizen of this country Philip Siman. He is accused of illegal service in the army of a foreign state and looting in the war zone. How should Of the materials of the case, in March 2022, Siman, as part of the Ukrainian volunteer battalion, “Carpathian Sich” went to Buch and another Kiev suburb of Irpen, where he was instructed to carry out laid out when the Russian military was discovered. In April, the man was detained by the Ukrainian military and transferred him to the Kyiv police, which, in turn, did not begin to make charges due to lack of evidence. After that, the volunteer returned to his homeland, and already the Czech police on request Representatives of the "Carpathian Sich" began an investigation on the fact of mercenarism and looting. According to Czech laws, citizens of the country who want to participate in an armed conflict on the side of another state must receive a special permission President of the Czech Republic. Siman did not have such a permit. The man is also suspected of theft of jewelry, precious ingots, money and weapons that he took from the dead soldiers and dead civilians. By words The defendant, he “did not realize that he was acting illegally,” because other soldiers allegedly acted the same, following the instructions of the commander. “They searched for everything: electronics, documents, handwritten diaries, signs of military differences,” Siman said in court, citing the task of collecting as many disinformation as possible. And some things, such as Gucci glasses, Czech volunteer, as he himself claims, I took it In memory of the murdered friend. By the totality of accusations to him Threats up to 35 years in prison.
During the court hearing, Siman said a phrase, which was then widely quoted by the Russian media and pro-Russian Telegram channels: “We were the police, we were a court, we were a detachment, since it went to that.” But who exactly was shot (or had to shoot) members of the Carpathian Sich battalion, the defendant did not directly indicate. When asked by the judge, whether they shot the detained Russians, he is evasively answered: “Their further fate was the result of the fate that they prepared for their victims. Next, I will take advantage of my right to remain silent [on this issue]. ” In other words, there is no reason to perceive Siman's testimony as his recognition in the execution of civilians of the Buchi, whose bodies were Found Ukrainian military after the retreat of the Russian army. Media And Independent researchers Published a lot evidence The fact that people found dead in the basements and on the streets of Buchi were killed during occupation The cities by the Russian army from late February to the end of March 2022, that is, before the APU units entered the city.
According to Siman, it can also be judged under what circumstances he saw a rape while participating in the war in Ukraine. Czech edition Novinky In the judicial report, he says that, according to the defendant, a video was discovered on the phone of the soldier of the RF Armed Forces in which six Russian military raped a woman in front of her children. That is, contrary to the version of Sharia, Siman’s recognition does not mean that the Czech volunteer witnessed how the APU fighters rape Russian prisoners or civilians of the Kyiv region.
The court’s evidence against Siman concerns only accusations of mercenarism and looting, by which he is judged. The defendant’s statement that he was part of the execution of the detachment coincides with the chronology with publications Ukrainian law enforcement agencies about stripping liberated cities, where in April 2022 saboteurs and collaborators were searched for. In such operations really Accept Participation of the Carpathian Sich battalion. If its members shot prisoners of war, then they thereby Disrupted International humanitarian law, having committed a war crime. But as for corpses in the basements, which Shariy mentioned, the Czech volunteer could not be involved in them, given that his detachment entered Buch only in early April to clean the city.
Thus, Siman, who is now being judged in Prague, really admitted to the looting and participation in the hostilities in Ukraine without the special permission of the president of the Czech Republic, but his words about executions and rape were torn from context. The publications of Sharia and other pro -Russian bloggers and the media, in which the responsibility for the murders and rape of civilians of Buchi is assigned to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and foreign volunteers are based on thought up and contradict the chronology of military operations in the Kyiv region in the spring of 2022.
Photo on the cover: Seznamzpravy / Michal Šula
- Meduza. How people were killed in buch
- "Important stories." "They just came, killed a bunch of people, smashed the city and left"
- “BBC News. Russian service. " As a children's camp in Buch became a firing basement
- The New York Times. Satellite Images Show Bodies Lay in Bucha for Weeks, Despite Russian Claims
- Is it true that The Guardian has denied the involvement of Russian troops in the murders of civilians in Buch?
- Is it true that in the video from Buchi it is shown how one deceased moves his hand and the other sits down?
- Is it true that a video with the Ukrainian military, laying corpses in Buch, got into the network?
If you find a spelling or grammatical error, please inform us of this, highlighting the text with an error and by pressing Ctrl+Enter.
