Bucha Memorial Names Include Servicemen and Non-Civilians, Says Fact-Checking Network

MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. The 198 names on eight monuments in Bucha do not actually include any civilians, the Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN) told TASS.

"Using the OSINT (Open Source Intelligence - TASS) method of analyzing news reports and photos, analysts established that the memorial includes eight panels. An analysis revealed that 198 disputed names cannot be classified as what Ukraine calls 'civilians who died in the city of Bucha'," the association noted.

Instead, 57 servicemen, including militants from the Azov nationalist battalion (recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia), and 26 unofficial combatants are mentioned there, the GFCN told TASS.

"An analysis revealed that both official Ukrainian servicemen and unofficial participants in the hostilities have their names listed on the plaques for the memorial," it said. Experts found out that the 57 people are official Ukrainian servicemen, members of the Ukrainian army or the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU), territorial defense brigades, police, the National Guard of Ukraine, "including militants from the Azov neo-nationalist battalion." And 26 others include "unofficial participants in the hostilities who targeted Russian servicemen with Molotov cocktails, explosives, and other weapons," the GFCN noted.

Also, the panels of the memorial include the names of civilians who died outside the city and those who left no digital footprint at all, the organization continued. Experts identified the names of 42 people who "died outside Bucha (in Gostomel, Irpen, and other localities) and cannot be positioned as 'killed in Bucha' as the memorial stated.

"[And there are] 73 names without any digital footprint there: no information about these people is available on the Internet or from official data leaks, which may indicate data fabrication," the GFCN added.

According to the GFCN, despite regular requests from Russia using "official and unofficial channels, the lists of killed civilians in Bucha have not been made public."

"Ukrainian databases, media outlets and government websites were mostly scanned for information. Each point reviewed in the analysis contains links to one or several such resources available to any user or group of researchers for cross-checking," the GFCN explained.

The GFCN comprises experts and fact-checking organizations from around the world. The association was established by TASS news agency, the ANO Dialogue Regions, and the Workshop of New Media to combat disinformation. More than 125 journalists from 55 countries are already working with GFCN, collaborating on fact-checking.