WASHINGTON, April 4. /TASS/. The Ukrainian authorities need to provide verifiable medical forensic data to sustain their accusations against Russia with regard to developments in the town of Bucha, former United Nations weapons inspector Scott Ritter wrote on Twitter.
"Anyone who makes knee jerk judgements from unverified videos sourced from a side known for wild propagandistic claims without waiting for verification of any kind should probably stop calling themselves journalists," he pointed out, commenting on US media reports of civilians allegedly killed by Russian troops.
"Basic medical forensics would answer three key questions: the time of death, the mechanism of death, and if the bodies had been moved. Let's see if the Ukrainians provide verifiable medical forensic data to sustain their accusations," Ritter added.
"The time of death. The mechanism of death. The location of death. Answer these three questions for each body. Then start pointing fingers. Until then, you’re literally spreading disinformation," the former UN weapons inspector noted.
According to Ritter, "at a time when Western public opinion is being shaped by an intense information warfare operation exclusively designed to paint Russia in a negative light, one would think objective observers would wait for the forensics before screaming ‘guilty’."
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.