Russia denies allegations, seeks UN Security Council meet on Bucha

 
INA-sources
 
Moscow has called for a special UN Security Council meeting Monday to address claims that Russian forces committed atrocities against Ukrainian civilians in Bucha, a town outside Kyiv. Ukrainian authorities are investigating possible war crimes by Russia after finding hundreds of bodies, some bound and shot at close range, strewn around towns near Kyiv. Read our live blog to follow the latest events. All times are Paris time [GMT+2].
07:40 am: Russia says footage in Ukraine's Bucha was 'ordered' to blame Russia
Russia's foreign ministry said that footage of dead civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha had been "ordered" by the United States as part of a plot to blame Russia.
 
"Who are the masters of provocation? Of course the United States and NATO," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview on state television late on Sunday.
 
Zakharova said the immediate Western outcry over the images of dead civilians indicated the story had been part of a plan to sully Russia's reputation.
 
"In this case, it seems to me that the fact that these statements (about Russia) were made in the first minutes after these materials appeared leaves no doubt as to who 'ordered' this story."
 
7:00 am: UK says Russian forces continue to refocus their offensive into the Donbas region
Russian forces continue to consolidate and reorganise as they refocus their offensive into the Donbas region in the east of Ukraine, British military intelligence said on Monday.
 
Russian troops, including mercenaries from the Russian state-linked Wagner private military company, are being moved into the area, the ministry of defence tweeted in a regular bulletin.
4:20 am: Russia seeks Monday UN Security Council meet on Bucha, Ukraine
Moscow has called for a special UN Security Council meeting Monday to address claims that Russian forces committed atrocities against Ukrainian civilians in Bucha, a town outside Kyiv.
 
"In the light of heinous provocation of Ukrainian radicals in #Bucha Russia requested a meeting of UN #SecurityCouncil on Monday April 4," Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said Sunday on Twitter.
 
Ukraine and Western leaders have erupted in outrage over the discovery of mass graves and hundreds of dead people in Bucha, a small town northwest of Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky directly blamed Moscow for the "killings" of civilians.
 
Russia denied the accusations and said Kyiv staged footage of the corpses.
 
A senior Washington official swiftly slammed Moscow's UN move and said it was designed to "feign outrage."
 
Source: France 24