Putin seeks his own back pocket: alleges, without evidence, Ukrainian war crimes in Kursk

MoscowVladimir Putin tries to condition peace talks in Ukraine accusing Kiev's soldiers of having committed war crimes against the population of KurskThe International Public Tribunal on the Crimes of Ukrainian Neo-Nazis, a body established in 2022 in response to the International Criminal Tribunal for Russia's violations of the Geneva Convention, has submitted a report containing the accounts of 120 alleged victims and witnesses who report "systematic killings" committed by the systematic murder.

Providing no evidence other than interviews with residents, the document alleges indiscriminate killings, including against women and the elderly, "with handguns and unmanned aerial vehicles, kamikaze drones and explosive devices," often as the victims tried to flee, in addition to rape and looting.

For example, a Sudja resident explains that a Ukrainian soldier shot his pregnant wife "looking her straight in the eyes" and wounded his two-year-old son. Another resident says that Ukrainian soldiers machine-gunned people trying to escape the village by car. "No one was left alive," she claims. Another witness adds that he saw a pensioner murdered as she went to the fountain to fetch water. Even the author of the report, Maxim Grigoriev, has even claimed that tours of civilians from the Ukrainian regions of Sumi and Kharkiv were organized to rob homes.

At a press conference, unusually aimed at the international press, but mainly attended by pro-government Russian media, a dozen speakers linked to the Russian government They have assessed the alleged Ukrainian "atrocities" in Kursk. However, they have shown virtually no evidence. They limited themselves to showing a ten-minute video with excerpts from witness interviews and only broadcast images of a body on the side of a road, supposedly killed by a Ukrainian missile. Nothing more.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova insisted that the report cannot be ignored because it is the "result of serious and meticulous work in gathering facts and evidence," adding that "behind each piece of data are specific people and communities."

An argument against the ceasefire

Already on March 19, while Ukrainian troops were retreating in KurskPutin called for an investigation into the "atrocities" perpetrated there and announced that all perpetrators, "especially foreign mercenaries," would be considered terrorists. This was precisely the Russian president's argument for opposing Washington and Kiev's proposal for a temporary ceasefire. "If we cease hostilities for 30 days, does that mean everyone [in Kursk] will leave without a fight? Will we have to let them leave after committing many crimes?" Putin asked.

With this report, the Kremlin is trying to elicit the same condemnation from the international community that was received for the massacre. indiscriminate expulsion of the civilian population in the Ukrainian city of Butxa In March 2022, when Russian troops left this municipality after 33 days of occupation, Ukrainian forces found bodies of civilians in the streets, many of them with their hands tied, heads pulled out, or signs of torture.

International investigations and satellite images have led to the attribution of the massacre to the Russian soldiers occupying the area. However, Russia has consistently denied responsibility and accuses Ukraine. According to the Kremlin, Zelensky and his allies staged a "staged" attempt to disrupt the failed peace talks that were taking place in Istanbul at the time. In fact, during the report's presentation, Professor Vladimir Shapovalov rebuked those commemorating the three years since the "falsified" Butxa massacre for "not saying a single word" about the Ukrainian crimes in Kursk.

Zelensky's government has called the Russian accusations "baseless," but Putin is more interested in Trump's verdict, who has so far been very sensitive to Kremlin propaganda.