OSCE's Inaction Exposed Bucha Provocation - Russian Foreign Ministry Source

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - By their silence and inaction, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Secretariat and other international organizations exposed the farce of the Bucha massacre staging, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik.

In early December, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, at his press conference following the OSCE Ministerial Council, noted that the list of allegedly killed residents of Bucha in Ukraine's Kiev Region had not yet been published, and urged journalists to investigate the 2022 events.

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) earlier said in response to a request from RIA Novosti that it is not in contact with the Ukrainian authorities on the issue of the list of "Bucha victims," but did not directly answer the question whether it has such a list.

“The lack of reaction from all international organizations, whose mandate requires close attention to the situation in the region, proves that the whole story with Bucha was a staging carried out by the hands of the Kiev regime at the instigation of the United States and Britain. By their silence and inaction, the OSCE Secretariat and other international organizations literally exposed this terrible farce,” the ministry source said.

The source said the Bucha provocation staging script was "copied" from the script for Nazi Germany's provocation against the Red Army in Nemmersdorf.

Nemmersdorf (now Mayakovskoye, Kaliningrad Region) was a locality in East Prussia, liberated by the Red Army on October 21, 1944. However, already on October 23, Red Army advanced units were forced to retreat for fear of being surrounded by counterattacking Nazi troops. After the locality returned under the control of Nazis, they blamed the Red Army for the deaths of 19 to 30 civilians, which was widely covered by German propaganda. However, after the end of the war, representatives of the German side admitted that the killings had been staged.

OSCE Says Not in Contact With Ukraine on List of Alleged Bucha Massacre Victims

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) told Sputnik that it is not in contact with the Ukrainian authorities on the list of alleged Bucha massacre victims.

A request was sent to the OSCE press service due to the fact that Moscow had repeatedly requested a list of Bucha victims, but it was never provided to it. The request asked for comment on whether work was currently under way with the Ukrainian authorities to provide the data to Moscow soon or publish it. The OSCE later recommended contacting ODIHR representatives. RIA Novosti forwarded the request to the ODIHR.

"While we are not in contact with the Ukrainian authorities on this issue, we understand that the Ukrainian authorities are gathering evidence of crimes committed in Bucha and other locations in the Kyiv region," the ODIHR said.

The office also said that it was Russia's obligation under international law to carry out an investigation concerning allegations against its armed forces.

When asked if it has the list of "Bucha victims," the Office did not give a direct reply, saying only that it collects information, including materials provided by the Ukrainian and Russian authorities.

Immediately after the start of Moscow's special military operation in February 2022, Russia took under control the territory of the Kiev Region, including Bucha, a small city northeast of Kiev. Following the Russian military withdrawal from the region, Ukrainian authorities accused Russia of numerous killings of civilians in Bucha, as well as in the surrounding areas.

Moscow has denied its role in the killings of civilians and insists that the footage of the murdered local residents, which was distributed in the Western media, is nothing more than a staging and provocation on the part of Ukraine to put pressure on the Western ruling circles in order to achieve their goals in the conflict with Russia.