Putin Honors Russian Brigade Accused of Bucha Atrocities

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday honored the military unit accused of committing war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine.

Putin bestowed on the 64th Motorized Infantry Brigade the honorary title of "Guards," according to a Russian release.

"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," Putin said.

"Skillful and resolute actions of the unit's personnel during the special military operation in Ukraine are an example of the performance of military duty, courage, selflessness and high professionalism."

Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, in an April 4 statement, named the 64th Motorized Infantry Brigade as "directly involved in committing war crimes against the people of Ukraine in Bucha."

Bucha Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk on Tuesday said that Ukrainian authorities had found 403 bodies so far believed to have been slaughtered by Russian forces, Newsweek reported.

Putin and Kremlin officials decried the contention of a Bucha massacre — and reports that some civilians were found with their hands tied behind their backs — as a hoax.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry, in a Facebook post, said that the 64^th Brigade, which had been withdrawn to Belarus and later to Russia, has since been returned to Ukraine.

"I wish the command and personnel of the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade good health and success," Putin said.

Indignant over what it called Ukrainian strikes in Russian territory and following the stunning loss of its Black Sea flagship, Moscow threatened renewed missile attacks on Kyiv, where authorities said the bodies of more than 900 civilians were found outside the capital. Most had been shot dead, police said, and likely "simply executed."

The mayor of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol said Monday that more than 10,000 civilians have died in the Russian siege of his city, and that the death toll could surpass 20,000, with corpses that were "carpeted through the streets."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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