CONSEQUENCES

Ukraine Prosecutors Lay Out First Criminal Charges Against Russian Soldiers After Bucha Massacre

Charges against troops from Russia’s 64th Motor Rifle Brigade are just the start, Ukrainian prosecutors say

Ukrainian prosecutors investigating war crimes in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha have laid the first criminal charges against 10 named Russian soldiers, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The men, who are accused of taking civilians hostage or otherwise mistreating them, are all privates or NCOs from the 64th Motor Rifle Brigade—which President Vladimir Putin has since honored. After the Russian retreat from Bucha, searchers have found more than 400 bodies, many of them found to have been shot in the head with their hands tied behind their back. Teams of international and Ukrainian investigators have been working to catalog the crimes and identify the perpetrators. The Journal reports Kyiv prosecutors continue to build cases against Russian officers and others accused of more serious crimes in Bucha and nearby towns.