Civilians in Bucha ‘directly targeted,’ UN says of brutal killings in Ukraine’s town

The United Nations said on Tuesday that photographs of atrocities in the Ukrainian town of Bucha reveal “all the signs” that people were “directly targeted and killed.”

During a virtual news briefing, Liz Throssell, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), expressed the UN’s “horror” at photographs that emerged showing civilian victims strewn over the streets of the town northwest of Kyiv.

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“What we have seen emerging from Bucha and from other areas clearly points to very disturbing developments. That the brutality, the targeting of the civilians really underscores that this is so concerning. You know, really looking at the video and the footage coming out of there is all the signs that the victims were directly targeted and directly killed,” Throssell said.  

She also mentioned “disturbing” photographs of people with their wrists tied behind their backs and partially naked women with burned bodies, saying they “strongly suggest” direct targeting of individuals.

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“We have been talking about war crimes in the context of shelling, bombardment, and artillery attacks. Now they need to be investigated. But you could argue there was a military context, for example, to a building being hit. It’s hard to see what was the military context of an individual lying in the street with a bullet to the head or having their bodies burned,” Throssell continued. 

Because the OHCHR is still attempting to secure access to Bucha, she did not have “exact information” on the situation on the ground to give.

“Given the way that our office works, we are not saying that a specific incident is a war crime. We can’t establish that yet. That is why there needs to be detailed forensic examinations, for example,” she added.  

Throssell praised journalists for their “crucial role” in chronicling these images, highlighting the “multiple teams” involved in “reporting, analysing, and sending video footage.”