Russia's top lawmaker said on Tuesday that civilian killings in the Ukrainian town of Bucha were part of a deceitful attempt by the West to discredit Russia.
"The situation in Bucha is a provocation aimed at discrediting Russia," Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma, said.
"Washington and Brussels are the screenwriters and directors and Kyiv are the actors," Volodin said. "There are no facts - just lies."
Since Russian troops withdrew from towns and villages around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv last week, Ukrainian troops have been showing journalists corpses of what they say are civilians killed by Russian forces, destroyed houses and burnt-out cars.
Russia denies all the claims.
(Reporting by Andrew Heavens)
