Mad accusation: "Britain staged massacre in Butja"
Of: Ola Palmström
PUBLISHED: LESS THAN 20 MIN THEN
NEWS
Russia is accused of war crimes in Butja.
But Belarus's President Alexander Lukashenko claims that Britain's staged the massacre.
"We will not allow Russia's attacks on innocent civilians and the illegal invasion of Ukraine to be obscured by cynical disinformation," the British government said.
The investigation to get to the bottom of exactly what happened in Butja is in full swing. So far, more than 400 bodies have been found, according to local authorities.
The images of dead civilians along the streets and filled mass graves upset the world, and several world leaders, including Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron, have accused Russia of war crimes in the Kiev suburbs.
But Alexander Lukashenko claims that it is in fact Britain that staged the massacre, reports The Times.
The unexpected accusation came after the President of Belarus visited a space center in Russia with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
Belarus leader Aleksandr Lukashenko met with Vladimir Putin for a meeting on a space base in eastern Russia.
Belarus leader Aleksandr Lukashenko met with Vladimir Putin for a meeting on a space base in eastern Russia.
Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev / AP
"Disgusting conspiracy"
Lukashenko described it as a "disgusting conspiracy" to set Russia up and said that the British were behind "the special psychological operation".
"If you need addresses, passwords, car registration numbers, the car models in which they arrived in Butja and how they carried out the operation, then the Russian security service FSB can provide that material," he said and continued:
- If not, we can help. Together with our Russian friends, we have revealed this unpleasant and disgusting conspiracy of the West.
Putin stated that Belarus had submitted documents to the FSB proving that several of the images of dead and unarmed civilians as well as interviews with survivors had been fabricated. He gave no further details.
Belarus is said to have handed over documents about Butja to the Russian security service FSB.
Photo: Mikhail Klimentyev / AP
Britain's response
Shortly afterwards, the answer came from Britain.
"We will not allow Russia's attacks on innocent civilians and the illegal invasion of Ukraine to be obscured by cynical disinformation," a spokesman for the British government told The Times.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has previously accused Ukraine of rigging the events in Butja. He called it, among other things, a "fictional attack".
Satellite images from the city, on the other hand, show that the dead bodies lay there several weeks before the Russians' retreat and that the mass graves were dug when Butja was under Russian control.
More than 400 bodies have been found in Butja since Russia left the Kiev suburb.
More than 400 bodies have been found in Butja since Russia left the Kiev suburb.
Photo: Rodrigo Abd / AP
"Impossible to insulate"
During the visit to the space center, Putin also expressed that the invasion of Ukraine is "clear and noble".
"Our primary goal is to help the people of Donbass," he said.
He also accused the West of encouraging nationalism and Nazism in Kyiv, claiming that Russia "had no choice".
More and more sanctions have been imposed on the country, but according to Putin, they have not had the desired effect.
- It is impossible to totally isolate someone in the modern world, especially a country as large as Russia. The economic blitzkrieg that our malicious opponents were counting on has, of course, not happened, he said.
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