WASHINGTON, April 4. /TASS/. No civilian casualties were reported in the Ukrainian town of Bucha when it was controlled by the Russian Armed Forces, but the US media ignored the Ukrainian military’s shelling of the city, which followed the withdrawal of Russian troops, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said in response to a Newsweek question.

"The Russian Defense Ministry has fully rejected these false accusations," he noted, commenting on reports of Russian troops allegedly killing civilians in Bucha. "I would like to point out that Russian troops left Bucha on March 30. The Ukrainian authorities remained silent all these days, and now they have suddenly posted sensational footage in order to tarnish Russia’s image and make Russia defend itself," Antonov said.

"I would like to emphasize with full responsibility that not a single civilian suffered from violence when the town was controlled by the Russian Armed Forces. On the contrary, our troops delivered 452 tonnes of humanitarian aid for civilians," Antonov stressed. "Meanwhile, the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces shelled the town of Bucha right after Russian troops had left was deliberately ignored in the US. This is what could have caused civilian casualties. That said, the Kiev regime is clearly trying to blame its atrocities on Russia," he added.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that the Russian Armed Forces had left Bucha, located in the Kiev region, on March 30, while "the evidence of crimes" emerged only four days later, after Ukrainian Security Service officers had arrived in the town. The ministry stressed that on March 31, the town’s Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk had confirmed in a video address that there were no Russian troops in Bucha. However, he did not say a word about civilians shot dead on the street with their hands tied behind their backs.