Bucha Massacre: Basement Executions in April

< Bucha Massacre {masterlist} 

Basement Executions in April 

April 8, 2022

last edits 4/10

Among those killed in the "Bucha Massacre" are some five men in a basement, bound and shot in the head, apparently. This was useful in showing Russian brutality in an area deep in the north of Bucha, at an alleged Russian base on the grounds of a former children's camp. 

This is far from the corpse-strewn no-man's-land in the south of Bucha that led news of the massacre. It seems those people were killed along Yablunska street well before Ukrainian forces controlled the area, but were mainly killed by shelling from their locations to the south. Many of those, and one of these five, wears the white armband said to indicate support for or cooperation with the Russians. But these victims were clearly bound and executed, allegedly by the Russians, so when and where become important questions. 

citing mainly: CNN report, April 4 https://edition.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-putin-news-04-04-22/h_6ae41ea2a3cd3ef832b8c009a8c51793

RFE/RL / Current Time video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-YKSLz536U

geo-location: https://twitter.com/CL4Syr/status/1512070239189561358

camp "Promenystyy" had a photo that matches the basic style - different paintjob now, but same structure and roof style in similar woods - Hromadske reports: "mass graves" were found on the grounds of "the agricultural enterprise "Ukrahropostach"" and at "the children's camp "Promenystyy" 

Coordinates: 50.5642213,30.210995 - set inside Bucha municipal park at the city's northern edge. The grounds map posted there vs. satellite view:

Adding 4/10: images and claims and video from Val, plus Kobs geolocation says this same camp's west edge was "exact same place where some Ukrainian vehicles got destroyed way back on Feb 24." It's not clear if they were just passing by or were setting up base there. It seems like a useful area, quite possibly used by both sides as possible, and in March that would mainly be the Russians.

 

There are also reports of eighteen mutilated bodies of men, women, and children in a summer camp's basement in Zabuchchya, a town south of Bucha and Irpin, but also included under the Bucha massacre heading. (the Times) I think I have a photo from that site, and it's full of terrible mysteries. But I haven't seen many reports on it, and it's a different scene for another post, maybe. 

At this site, "An advisor to the Ukrainian interior minister, Anton Gerashchenko, told CNN on the ground that the five men had been tortured and executed by Russian soldiers." That couldn't be confirmed. Here's Gerashchenko looking on as the body with the armband that usually means pro-Russian is carried by.

Rigor Mortis = Killed in last 2 Days

CNN's report said the bodies "were in advanced stage of decomposition," having been killed at least 4 days ago when Russian force were still in charge. But in fact, they seem to be in the earliest stages of decay because they were killed well after the Russians left. 

RFE/RL's video of removal and a photo with the CNN report include short shadows from the southwest, so early afternoon, maybe 2-3 PM (the building I think it is faces south, with a very slight SW trend, and sun is well SW relative to that). 

It seems about the same time when the bodies are laid, one has his binding cut and two are seen being rolled over, at 0:45 0:53 in the video. 

The bodies being rolled over lets us see an important clue - the first one seems moderately stiff, pivoting on one shoulder to fall on its back all at once, like a plank. No still image really shows that, but here at right, and note his cheeks are almost a living but pale pink, no different from the arm of the man handling him. His skin is not the slightest bit discolored. 

The other body we see rolled has hands that are also normal color, but rolls differently, relaxed and floppy. 

Assuming they died about the same time, this suggests rigor mortis is fading in their group, quicker with some than others. This usually sets in 6-8 hours after death as (I think) calcium no longer used for neuro-transmission coats skeletal muscles with a mineral crust. SOmething about lactic acid buildup also plays in ... I'm a bit hazy. 

Some people don't know this but, whatever the exact cause of it, rigor mortis then fades away after 36-48 hours. 

https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/forensicspostmortem.html

"With the onset of putrefaction, rigor mortis passes off, and secondary relaxation occurs. Secondary relaxation occurs at around 36 hours after death due to the breakdown of the contracted muscles due to decomposition."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539741/#article-27523.s3

That might happen slower in the cold  - I've read that heat accelerates rigor mortis. But looking it up, I see "The onset of rigor mortis is more rapid if the environment is cold." Still, I'm not sure how to include any difference and the coats might counteract it pretty well, so let's just say the usual time-frame and note it might be a bit shorter, not likely to be longer, https://journals.lww.com/amjforensicmedicine/Documents/_Rigor_Mortis__in_a_Live_Patient.pdf 

Experts should also have a say on this subject, but until then, my estimate is 36-48 hours before filming time (14:00 on the 4th)  = time of murder: between 2 PM on April 2 and 2 AM on April 3. Later times than this are more likely than earlier ones, but April 1 can't be entirely ruled out. Any time earlier can be. And it might well have happened after 2 AM on the 3rd.

The blood left beneath the victims and on the wall seems pretty well dried, but it isn't pooled anywhere except for in a deep layer of absorbent basement dust. Thin layers running down a wall or leaked into dust will all dry quickly, so hardly any time can be ruled out by this clue. However ...

first videos of the bodies still in place afternoon of the 3rd - earliest 2 postings I found, about 30 minutes apart:

4/3 16:39 local time https://twitter.com/typolinb/status/1510613064760107015

4/3 17:07 https://twitter.com/Meduselchen/status/1510619966722256909

April 3 video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO49tWSCMco

Noteworthy: the blood beneath one victim is still partly wet, and the blood leaked down one's knee is still wet, with no rain here to help explain that. I don't know just how quickly blood dries, but it makes sense that it stopped flowing 12-24 hours before this video, or even less. "Advanced stages of decay," they said.

 

Significance

Even in the north of Bucha, Russian and Ukrainian official agree that Russian forces had left on or by March 31. Any killings after that - as these seem to be - can hardly be blamed on the Russians. Late on April 2.it was announced an operation was underway (special forces regiment "Safari") to clear the city of Russian collaborators and saboteurs. This operation was likely underway at the time of these killings, even if that predates the announced start. 

https://web.archive.org/web/20220402185448/https://en.lb.ua/news/2022/04/02/12441_special_forces_regiment_safari.html

Separately, Azov Battalion's Serhiy Korotkikh posted a video on April 2 of his "Boatsman boys" patrolling Bucha that day or earlier, an overcast hard-to-time midday. As he examines burnt out Russian tanks, he casually gives permission over the radio for people without their blue arm bands to be shot.

See my prior analysis, and adding here Antiwar Soldier's note: "Here is noise corrected video, where a phrase "please do not kill me" and shot is better heard." I wasn't even aware it was even supposedly audible. It's quite possible those exact men killed apparently late on the 2nd, whom Korotkikh approved the murder of. On the other hand, there were probably a lot of other murders besides these five.

Russian Base and Other Clues

V markings as used by Russian forces in the area, are scrawled all over the camp in spray paint, as if to remind the soldiers where they were. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax5PCv8y7Us

V markings on 2 cars, after they had been sideswiped and smashed up a bit. It might also be after this sideswiping that these cars and their kidnapped occupants were brought here to murder.

Antiwar Soldier: "Here is one interesting video from Kharkiv where an arrested criminal explains that after a criminal killing they moved the car with corpses of people they shoot closer to Russian controlled territory, so it would look like done by Russians."

https://twitter.com/antiwar_soldier/status/1511780625329664004

Swap in "Bucha" in for "Kharkiv" and it sounds like the probable real story here.

CNN: "The dead men had their hands tied behind their back and most of them had several gunshot wounds, not just to the head, but also to the lower limbs. "

3/18: Ukrainian reports say Russian soldiers have been using Ukrainian ammunition to shoot themselves in the legs so they can avoid fighting. 

https://nypost.com/2022/03/18/russian-troops-reportedly-shooting-themselves-in-the-legs-to-avoid-fighting/

3/27: video appears where Ukrainian soldiers filmed THEMSELVES shooting Russian prisoners of war in the legs with Ukrainian ammunition. To prove the first story? How many times did that happen un-filmed?

https://www.bbc.com/news/60907259

Well these ones didn't shoot themselves, and don't seem to be soldiers, although one wears the white armband. And their legs were shot on about April 2, one week after that videotaped example of what Ukrainian Fascists do to Russians, and maybe to their supporters and accomplices.