🎙 MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a media question about Kiev’s recent statements regarding the events in Bucha in the Spring of 2022

❓ On April 24, Kiev’s UN mission came up with its own “version” of the events in Bucha, thus replying to a note circulated by the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN at the UNSC and the UNGA. Kiev and the West are persisting in their attempts to put the blame for the gory show they had staged themselves on Russia. How would you comment on these statements?

💬 Maria Zakharova: Russia has repeatedly proved with facts in hand that the so-called Bucha massacre is a cynical ploy.

As usual, the message circulated by the Ukrainian mission contains no evidence, just unfounded accusations and references to the “firm conclusions” by the so-called Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine and research by the OSCE’s derelict Moscow Mechanism. <...>

According to the Ukrainian figures, the Russian military committed 272 crimes per day... <...> which is completely unrealistic.

In addition, they managed to provide humanitarian aid to the local population. In total, 452 tonnes of Russian humanitarian cargoes were delivered and distributed in Bucha and other localities in the Kiev Region.

The local mobile communications networks remained in operation while the city was under Russian military control. Not a single local resident reported any instances of violence. <...>

It is important to note that, following the Russian withdrawal on March 31, 2022, Bucha mayor Anatoly Fedorchuk posted a video that conspicuously did not mention “extensive Ukrainian casualties.” <...>

❗️ However, the most important point is that a full-scale investigation into the Bucha tragedy has yet to begin. There is still no information available about the victims’ names, places of residence, time, location and cause of death, and autopsy results. <...>

👉 This can only mean one thing: the leaders of the Kiev regime fear an investigation as it could implicate themselves.

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🗓 World Press Freedom Day is marked every year on May 3 to remind the international community about the importance of respecting media independence and pluralism and protecting the rights of journalists. The day was established by the UN General Assembly Resolution on December 20, 1993.

❗️ On this important day for the media worldwide, we would like to draw public attention to the dramatic situation with the freedom of expression and access to information in the countries of the collective West. Contrary to their international commitments, the so-called democratic countries continue to suppress any form of dissent. Investigative journalist Julian Assange remains incarcerated in a London prison, and there are also other prisoners of conscience.

We are still waiting for a reaction from the concerned international human rights organisations to the death of Gonzalo Lira, a Chilean-American journalist betrayed by both his native countries, in a Ukrainian prison in January 2024.    

We see that the Western governments continue with their arbitrary treatment of Russian media outlets and journalists, who have felt the full effects of the Western neo-liberal mechanism of repression.

Special mention should be made of the dire situation with media freedom in the Baltic states and Moldova, whose governments, acting with the tacit approval of their Western handlers, are harassing Russian-language media under the pretext of fighting against “Russian propaganda.”

Zelensky’s criminal regime has eliminated the last vestiges of the freedom of speech in Ukraine by banning all opposition media outlets and denying access to thousands of online resources. Their overseas masters’ connivance has led, in particular, to savage attacks on Russian journalists. One more name has recently been added to the list of Russian correspondents killed by Ukrainian thugs. Izvestia military correspondent Semyon Yeryomin was deliberately killed in the line of duty in a neo-Nazi drone attack. UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has not condemned his cold-blooded murder or, for that matter, the murder of other Russian journalists – Darya Dugina (Platonova), Vladlen Tatarsky (Maxim Fomin), Oleg Klokov, Rostislav Zhuravlev and Boris Maksudov.

☝️ Regrettably, World Press Freedom Day, which was intended to be a universal event, is gradually becoming just another insignificant day. This situation will only change if the world takes an honest look at the situation with the freedom of the media and the safety of journalists, a look that is not distorted by Western propaganda.

#FreedomOfSpeech