Butja became the center of the Russian soldiers’ terror in war-torn Ukraine. During 18 specific days during the siege, 12 people were killed in the city, according to New York Times which is now reporting new evidence of war crimes.
The identified perpetrators belong to the 64th Brigade, a notorious group of Russian soldiers who, according to Ukrainian intelligence, were started in 2009. The group consists largely of soldiers from ethnic minorities and socially disadvantaged areas.
With the brigade, Russia had a clear goal: to instill fear and maintain control.
– It is the consequence of the policy that is now showing itself in Butja. Without discipline and with these aggressive habits, they seem to have been created to scare the population, says Mykola Krasny, information officer at the Ukrainian military intelligence service.
10 have been identified
According to the New York Times, the group arrived in Butja only after Russian forces took control of the city. Their task was to hold the siege.
Meanwhile, there were repeated abuses against the locals.
– They tied their legs and feet and taped for their eyes. They beat them with fists, pistols and kicks and carried out executions. They imprisoned our people, said Rusian Kravchenko, chief prosecutor in the Butja district, according to the New York Times.
According to the New York Times, the group’s reputation was known.
“Those who come after us are bad guys,” they said. I think they had radio contact and knew who would come, says local resident Mykola, 67, who believes that other Russian soldiers urged him to leave the city before the brigade got there.
So far, 10 soldiers have been identified in the group. They are now being investigated for war crimes.
Nine men were executed
Several of the suspected war crimes took place on the street Yablonska. Here, in a courtyard used as a base by the Russian soldiers, eight men are said to have been executed in March.
A surveillance film that New York Times published shows how men are taken across a street under gun threat. Pictures then show how the men lie dead in the courtyard. Several bullet holes can be seen in a staircase next door.
Several of the men contacted their loved ones before they were executed. “We can not get out. I call when I call. I love you “, said one of the men in a conversation with his wife. Shortly afterwards, he died.