Suspected commander of Russian operations who masterminded massacre in Bucha

WARNING – DISTRESSING CONTENT: Lt Colonel Azatbek Omurbekov leads the 64th Separate Motorised Rifle Brigade which occupied the Kyiv region where troops are accused of massacring the local population, it is alleged

The suspected commander of Russian operations in a commuter town has been named as Ukrainians seek the “butchers of Bucha”.

Ukrainian sources have named Lt Colonel Azatbek Omurbekov who leads the 64th Separate Motorised Rifle Brigade which occupied the Kyiv region where troops are accused of massacring the local population, it is alleged.

Growing evidence points to barbarism in Bucha with local women and children raped and shot and demands are growing for accountability over atrocities by Vladimir Putin’s forces.

Ukrainian reporter Evgeny Spirin said: “Some of the killed children had their arms tied up. Children…. They were tying up children. There were shot dogs.”

He added: “Irpen, Bucha, Dmitrievka. How to live with this, and is it worth living at all? How do I explain this to myself, how?

“They must cease to exist. They must all be destroyed, each and every one of them, turned into dust, into mud, into clay, all of them.”

Ukrainian activists and web sleuths have identified the presence of Omurbekov’s forces – which are normally based in the far east of Russia – and a number of other Russian military units.

Volunteers group Tretya Sila reported: “In Bucha there was a military unit 51460 from the village of Knyaze-Volkonskoye, Khabarovsk region…

“Soon all these murderers, rapists and looters will be known by name.”

InformNapalm volunteers named Omurbekov as unit 51460 of the 64th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade amid suspicions of grotesque war crimes in Bucha.

In the city, too, according to the Ukrainians, were forces from the Fifth Separate Guards Tank Brigade of 36th army of the Russian Eastern military district, the 331st Parachute Assault Regiment of 98th airborne division, the 137th Parachute Assault Regiment of 106th airborne division, the 104th and 234th Air Assault Regiments of the 76th Guards Air Assault Division, 14 and 45 separate guard brigades of special purpose; the 63rd special operational regiments of the Russian national guard, and the 155th separate guards brigade of marines of the Pacific Fleet.

So far no commanders have been named from these forces apart from Omurbekov.

Russian sources have hit back claiming the Ukrainians were responsible for the atrocities in Bucha and other locations – and are the ones guilty of war crimes.

Russian ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said: “The Russian defence ministry has fully rejected these false accusations.”

He said: ”I would like to point out that Russian troops left Bucha on March 30.

“The Ukrainian authorities remained silent all these days, and now they have suddenly posted sensational footage in order to tarnish Russia’s image and make Russia defend itself.

“I would like to emphasise with full responsibility that not a single civilian suffered from violence when the town was controlled by the Russian Armed Forces.ed Forces.

On the contrary, our troops delivered 452 tonnes of humanitarian aid for civilians.

“Meanwhile, the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces shelled the town of Bucha right after Russian troops had left was deliberately ignored in the US.

“This is what could have caused civilian casualties. That said, the Kiev regime is clearly trying to blame its atrocities on Russia.”

Konstantin Kosachev, deputy speaker of the Russian upper house of parliament, said: “There are no doubts that it is a staging organised by Kyiv authorities.

“And the fact that the West has picked it up and is hyping it makes it an accomplice of this cynical and immoral crime.”

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed Kyiv colluded with the West in seeking to blame Russia.

“I think that the very fact that these statements were made minutes after these materials were released leaves no doubts as for who has contracted this story,” she told state-run Rossiya-1 television channel.

The West decided immediately Russia was to blame “based on the videos, seconds-long videos and several photos.

“And they are ready to pour accusations.

“No expert work done, no information from the other side throwing light on what is going on…”

She claimed the massacres were “a provocation staged by the Ukrainian military and radical nationalists” to disrupt peace talks.