Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday bestowed an honorary title on a military unit accused of committing war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine.
Driving the news: As Russian forces withdrew from the Kyiv region earlier this month, evidence surfaced of dead civilians — some with their hands tied behind their backs — strewn in the streets of the city of Bucha.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an address days later that more than 300 people had been tortured and killed in Bucha by Russian forces.
State of play: In a statement on April 4, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense explicitly named Russia's 64th Motorized Infantry Brigade as "directly involved in committing war crimes against the people of Ukraine in Bucha."
- The ministry added in a post on Facebook that while the brigade had been initially withdrawn to Belarus, and later to Russia, it has since been sent back into Ukraine.
What they're saying: "I congratulate you on conferring the honorary title 'Guards' on the brigade," Putin said in a statement.
- "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."
- "I wish the command and personnel of the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade good health and success," Putin concluded.
