Ukraine’s National Police identified a killer of a Bucha resident, whose photo with a red manicure became a symbol of Russian atrocities.
Bodies discovered after Bucha’s liberation from the Russian on 31 March 2022 showed evidence of torture. Many were found in mass graves or lying in streets with their hands bound and shot at close range.
Sexual violence was also reported as a weapon of war, with Ukrainian officials stating that Russian soldiers committed rapes against women and girls aged 14 to 24.
The suspect is Artyom Tareyev, born in 1995, commander of the 234th Assault Regiment of Russia’s 76th Airborne Division, according to Bucha city council.
On 5 March 2022, Tareyev ordered his troops to shoot at all civilians who appeared near the intersection of Yablunska and Vodoprovidna streets in Bucha.
That same day, Iryna Filkina was killed while cycling – shot with 15 bullets from automatic weapons and a BMD-2 armored vehicle. A photo of her hand with a red manicure went viral.
In total, 13 civilians were killed as a result of Tareyev’s order.
In March 2024, Ukrainian police reported that after the liberation of Bucha, 422 slain civilians were found, with 1190 bodies discovered in the region, while many are still missing.
The police documentation also showed Russian forces shot civilians from tanks and armored personnel carriers, even when victims wore the white armbands that Russian forces had mandated.
German intelligence intercepts obtained from Russian military radio communications suggest these killings were part of a systematic approach rather than isolated incidents.
Human Rights Watch conducted interviews with residents and documented physical evidence of the atrocities, noting that “nearly every corner in Bucha is now a crime scene.” The International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened investigations into the war crimes committed in Bucha.
Related:
- Bucha massacre: Ukraine presses murder charges against two Russian soldiers
- So far, 91 Russian soldiers involved in crimes in Bucha identified
- Ukrainian investigators uncover widespread human rights violations by Russian troops in Kyiv Oblast
- “They were shot in the back of the head.” Eyewitness account of Russia’s murders of Bucha residents
- Bucha slowly comes to life after Russian massacre: Dispatch from Ukraine
- Cruelty, murder, and destruction in Bucha
- Bucha: a turning point–not only in Putin’s war in Ukraine, but in relations between Moscow and the world
