The confession of one of the Russian soldiers who carried out the Bucha massacre in 2022

Monday, March 31, marked three years since the withdrawal of Russian troops from the town of Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv.

The Bucha Massacre and what it indicates about pro-Russian propagandists in the West
Russian terror in Ukraine: the horrifying trail of death the invaders are leaving

The murder of hundreds of civilians and the Russian hoaxes to cover it up

After that withdrawal, Ukrainian forces found a gruesome scene: hundreds of civilians murdered by the Russians in cold blood. Many of the victims had their hands tied behind their backs. Some were thrown into mass graves, and others were left in the streets. On April 3, 2022, I published the images of horror here.

Following its tradition, Moscow unleashed a campaign of hoaxes like the massacre similar to the one Stalin did with the Katyn massacre of 1940, perpetrated by the Soviet NKVD and which claimed 22,000 Polish officers who had been taken prisoner by the Red Army in 1939. Russia and its propagandists have been spreading lies about this massacre to hide their true authorship. The lies have been varied, with some denying responsibility, others blaming Ukraine, and Russia has even blamed the UK.

Ukraine has already identified 12 of the perpetrators of this massacre.

The problem for the Kremlin is that the perpetrators of the massacre left behind abundant evidence. On January 20, 2025, the National Police of Ukraine identified 12 Russian servicemen who murdered 16 civilians in Bucha, specifically at the corner of Vokzalna and Yablunska streets between March 5 and 9, 2022:

In its statement, the National Police of Ukraine stated:

Among the civilians killed by the Russians are women, men, and children between the ages of 14 and 69. All of them were shot from machine guns and combat vehicles while trying to get to work or their relatives' homes, evacuate their families from the combat zone, or simply find food.

Ukraine's National Police said that the 12 identified Russian soldiers belonged to the 234th Pskov Airborne Assault Regiment, a Russian army unit attached to the 76th Airborne Assault Division, at the time of the incident. The same unit had previously participated in the illegal occupation of Crimea. The police report added:

Their commander gave the order to occupy the sector at the intersection of Vokzalna and Yablunska Streets and to shoot to kill anyone who entered their field of vision. He personally supervised the execution of the order, gave instructions on the arrangement of firing positions and the duties of the Russian soldiers in them.

The Ukrainian National Police obtained this information from captured Russian soldiers during the invasion.

The confessions of Nikolai Kartashev, one of the perpetrators of the massacre

One of the Russian soldiers identified in connection with the Bucha massacre was 21-year-old Nikolai Kartashev. He appears in the bottom row of the photos above: third from the left. According to Ukrainian outlet Slidstvo.info, Kartashev was captured on February 6, 2023, in the Kremin Forest, in Ukraine's Luhansk region:

During interrogation, Nikolai Kartashev concealed the fact that he had been in Bucha at the beginning of the Great War. However, the police already knew this fact, because thanks to communication with Russian prisoners of war who were captured in the Kyiv region, they managed to establish the names of the soldiers of the 234th Regiment of the 76th Airborne Assault Division of the Russian Federation, where Kartashev also served.

In a news article published by Slidstvo.info this Monday, this medium adds:

Nikolai Kartashev assisted the official investigation during interrogations by confessing to the atrocities and murders committed by himself and his "colleagues." The occupier is currently in a pre-trial detention center in kyiv, awaiting a court verdict, as he is accused of murdering a civilian.

Five Russians raped and murdered a 34-year-old Ukrainian woman

Among other things, Kartashev confessed to the circumstances of the rape and murder of a 34-year-old Ukrainian woman, Oksana, by five Russian soldiers. The woman's body was found naked and with knife wounds in the basement of a building in Bucha after the withdrawal of Russian troops. Condoms used by the Russian rapists were also found at the same location.

In its news, Slidstvo.info has included this video with Kartashev's confessions and statements from Ukrainian police officers involved in this investigation (you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):