Lavrov Accuses Kiev of Listing Military Personnel on Bucha Civilian Memorial

MOSCOW, September 22. /TASS/. The Kiev regime is blatantly lying by listing the names of Ukrainian soldiers on the memorial stele in Bucha as civilians who were allegedly killed there, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the Dialogue on Fakes 4.0 international forum.

"It turns out that back in 2023, the Kiev regime erected a special memorial dedicated to this – as they call it – 'Bucha massacre' and organized regular 'pilgrimages' to the site for their sponsors from NATO and the European Union. They lay flowers in front of the cameras and deliver speeches full of accusations. Incidentally, UN Secretary-General [Antonio Guterres] was also taken there. Yet, this did not help him grasp the essence of the issues that are obvious to normal people," Lavrov noted. "A list of names has appeared on the memorial itself – and is periodically updated – names that, according to Mr. Guterres, supposedly could not be shared with us. Yet, they were inscribed on the memorial as civilians, as was claimed."

Lavrov recalled the report by the public International Tribunal on Crimes of the Kiev Regime, which has published the initial findings of its investigation.

"This report analyzes the surnames immortalized on the memorial. According to repeated statements by a representative of Zelensky’s office, all the deceased were exclusively civilians with no connection whatsoever to the military. This is an outright lie," Lavrov emphasized. "Even a preliminary analysis of the surnames inscribed on the memorial yields a very interesting result. Based solely on open-source data, it has been established that the memorial lists the names of dozens of individuals – including Ukraine military personnel, Security Service of Ukraine officers, members of so-called defense units, police, and the National Guard, as well as fighters from the nationalist 'Azov' force (designated a terrorist organization and banned in Russia – TASS). More than 70 names refute the myth about the alleged killing of hundreds of civilians in Bucha," Lavrov stated.

The Dialogue about Fakes 4.0 forum is a global platform for discussing methods to combat disinformation and develop fact-checking technologies. The event is taking place at the Russia National Center with the participation of over 2,000 journalists, experts and businesspeople from 80 countries. It is organized by the Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN), established in 2025 by the TASS news agency, the autonomous nonprofit organization "Dialogue Regions," and the New Media Workshop.

TASS is the forum’s strategic media partner.