As we covered yesterday, the horrible war crimes against civilians in Bucha have caused outrage around the world. However, today new reports are coming out that show just how evil Putin really is. To avoid war crime tribunal testimony, those soldiers are being sent to the front lines in hopes of keeping them permanently silent.

The culprits come from the 64th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 35th All-Russian army, according to Ukrainian intelligence.

Dubbed the “butchers of Bucha,” the soldiers left a trail of blood and death in their wake, with Ukranian authorities discovering numerous mass graves and corpses who appear to have been tortured scattered through the city.

But the main intelligence directorate of Ukraine’s MoD claims that Russian commanders are refusing to rotate their brigades, with the war criminals already on their way to Belgorod in Western Russia for redeployment.

A report published on the Ukrainian MoD’s website said the brigade is being sent to the ‘hottest spots’, likely around Kharkiv, in the hope that they will be killed before they are forced to testify in a war crime tribunal.

‘Another goal of the rapid return of the 64th Brigade to Ukrainian territory is the quick ‘disposal’ of unnecessary witnesses,’ the report read.

‘That is, redeployment to a part of the war front where they will have no chance of surviving, thus making it impossible for them to testify in future courts.’

Intelligence also suggests that despite widespread resistance in the ranks, Russian commanders are refusing to accept any resignations from the perpetrators of the crimes and are threatening any dissenters with court martial.

The Kremlin meanwhile continues to deny the accusations of war crimes levied against its troops, while Russian political commentators have gone as far as to suggest the harrowing scenes were staged by Ukraine and the West to discredit Putin.

Ukrainian authorities said the butchers of Bucha will arrive in Belgorod tomorrow and by April 8 will cross the border once again to cause yet more chaos.

The scale of the havoc wrought by the 64th Motorised Rifle Brigade and other Russian forces in areas north of Kyiv has served as a stark reminder of the horrors of war, but Ukrainian authorities fear the worst is yet to come.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said yesterday the evidence of civilian killings in Bucha was just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, with Ukrainian forces yet to reach all areas vacated by Russian troops. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky was visibly emotional when he visited Bucha yesterday and observed the trail of death and destruction left by Russia’s troops, including those from the 64th Motorised Rifle Brigade.

‘The military tortured people and we have every reason to believe that there are many more people killed,’ Zelensky said. ‘Much more than we know now.’

‘These are war crimes and will be recognised by the world as genocide. It’s very difficult to talk when you see what they’ve done here,’ the President continued solemnly. 

‘We know of thousands of people killed and tortured, with severed limbs, raped women and murdered children,’ he said, before adding that ‘dead people have been found in barrels, basements, strangled, tortured’.

Zelensky is set to address the UN Security Council today, where he is expected to push world leaders to impose tougher sanctions on Russia over the atrocities, send more weapons for his armed forces, and formally request a war crimes probe to punish the Russian commanders responsible for the slaughter. 

Ukraine’s allies have also labelled the killings in Bucha war crimes, with the EU offering to send investigators to gather evidence. 

‘[Putin] is a war criminal,’ US President Biden told reporters at the White House yesterday.

‘What’s happening to Bucha is outrageous and everyone’s seen it.’

The White House said it would announce fresh sanctions on Moscow ‘this week’ with France suggesting new measures could target Russian oil and coal exports. 

The United States and Britain also said they would seek Russia’s suspension from the UN Human Rights Council – a move Moscow branded ‘unbelievable’.

Russia meanwhile continues to deny the accusations of war crimes in Bucha, despite overwhelming evidence, including satellite imagery, to suggest its troops murdered hundreds of civilians in cold blood. 

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said yesterday that the Kremlin will prove the accusations of war crimes as false, while several Russian journalists and television personalities even alleged the harrowing scenes had been staged by Ukraine and Britain.

Russian political commentator and researcher Gevorg Mirzayan yesterday declared: ‘This was done by professionals, probably British. They’re the best in the area of information operations.

‘[They know how] to place the bodies correctly, do everything correctly, create a nice picture for the necrophilic Western consciousness.’

The outrageous statements came hours after pro-Putin commentator Vladimir Soloviev said the destruction in Bucha was part of a plot cooked up by Ukraine and Britain to discredit Russia.

‘The war against Russia entered a new phase today. Very soon we will be blamed of genocide,’ he said.