Putin Honors Russian Brigade Accused of War Crimes in Bucha – In a stunning thumbing of his nose at conventional human rights concerns, Russian President Vladimir Putin has honored the Russian brigade that was accused of several war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine.
The Russian military has long bestowed the honorific title of “Guards” to a unit designation after it proves itself in combat or distinguishes itself by its service. This is supposed to denote that a unit has elite status. This began with the former Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War (World War II).
The 64th Motorized Infantry Brigade will now be known as “Guards”. This was a blunt message from Putin to Ukraine and the West that the wave of atrocities that occurred in Bucha by the Brigade during the ill-fated offensive to take Kyiv was not only not a concern in Moscow, but something for the unit to be proud of.
I congratulate you on conferring the honorary title ‘Guards’ on the brigade,” Putin said in a statement honoring the unit.
“This is a high honor and recognition of your special merits, mass heroism, and courage shown in defending the Fatherland, upholding the sovereignty and national interests of Russia.”
“Through astute and bold actions during the special military operation in Ukraine, the unit’s staff became a role model in fulfilling its military duty, valor, dedication, and professionalism,” the statement added.
“I wish the command and personnel of the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade good health and success,” Putin wrote.
Ukraine Reacts
Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian presidential adviser took to Twitter to denounce the designation by Putin. “While someone is debating whether crimes in Ukraine can be called genocide, Russia continues to laugh in the face of the world. Putin awarded the honorary ‘guard’ title ‘For heroism and courage’ to the brigade stationed in Bucha. For the murder of children and rape of women, you mean?” Podolyak posted.
After the Russian troops began to pull back from Bucha and redeploy to Belarus, the extent of the atrocities in Bucha and the surrounding area around Kyiv began to come into focus.
Ukrainian officials recovered 410 bodies, most of whom died from gunshot wounds in the area. Worse still many were found to have been tortured and executed with their hands tied behind their backs. Evidence of rapes were also found in the city.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense took to Facebook (which is banned in Russia), and posted the names, ranks, and passport photos of members of the 64th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade. This was done to allow authorities to eventually bring war crimes charges against the unit.
International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan said there were “reasonable grounds to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the ICC are being committed.” He added, however, that it would be difficult for the ICC to ever bring the guilty to justice as Russia had withdrawn from the ICC statute.
Moscow denied any wrongdoing in Bucha and has called the evidence of war crimes as being “faked” by the West. Russia then blamed a UK special operations unit for committing rapes and extrajudicial killings inside the city.
Steve Balestrieri is a 1945 National Security Columnist. He has served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer before injuries forced his early separation. In addition to writing for 19fortyfive.com, he has covered the NFL for PatsFans.com for more than 10 years and his work was regularly featured in the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle and Grafton News newspapers in Massachusetts.
