London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Dec 19, 2025

Bucha killings: Satellite image of bodies site contradicts Russian claims

Russia called footage of bodies in Bucha 'staged' but its evidence for this does not stack up. A satellite image of Bucha in Ukraine appears to show bodies lying in the street nearly two weeks before the Russians left the town.

The image from 19 March, first reported by the New York Times and confirmed by the BBC, directly contradicts Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's claim that footage of bodies in Bucha that has emerged in recent days was "staged" after the Russians withdrew.

The satellite image shows objects that appear to be bodies in the exact locations where they were subsequently found by Ukrainian forces when they regained control of the town north of Kyiv.

Along another section of the road, the image shows what appear to be more bodies on the ground.

Russia has made a series of other unfounded claims relating to images from Bucha - here's what the evidence tells us.


Claim: 'Faked dead bodies'
After the Russian withdrawal, footage taken from a car as it drove through the town showed bodies on either side of the road.

The Russian Embassy in Canada tweeted the video, dismissing the idea that it showed corpses, with the caption "staged video showing faked dead bodies in the town of Bucha near Kiev".

Pro-Russian social media accounts circulated a slowed-down version of the video, claiming that the arm on one of the bodies moved.

The video is grainy but a closer analysis of it shows that what is claimed to be a moving arm, is actually a mark in the bottom right corner of the vehicle's windscreen.

We've circled this mark - which looks like a raindrop or a speck of dirt - along with similar marks visible on the windscreen earlier in the video.

Another Russian claim focuses on a different part of the footage. The car passes another body, lying next to a pavement with red and yellow stones and shattered brown fencing.

As it drives on, the body can be seen briefly in the right-hand wing mirror. Pro-Russian accounts claim the body "sits up".

But a slowed-down version of the video shows the wing mirror is clearly distorting the reflection of the body, as well as houses in the background.

The BBC has matched both bodies from the video (posted on 2 April) with high-resolution photos provided by Getty Images and AFP on 3 April.

In the video, the first body is lying on their back near a white and yellow kerb. The pavement to the right is part asphalt and part grass. A silver car can be seen on the pavement with its boot open in front of a white fence.

The same car, kerb, pavement and fence are visible in the Getty/AFP image.

The second body has a black jacket and what appears to be a bloodied tourniquet or bandage on the right arm. They are lying on their side next to a red and yellow pavement, in front of a shattered brown fence.

The black jacket, tourniquet/bandage, pavement and fence all match the photo of the body published by Getty/AFP.


Claim: Bodies 'not stiffened'

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted: "It is of particular worry that all the bodies of the people whose images have been published by the Kiev regime are not stiffened after at least four days."

According to the Ukrainian military, the Russians left in the early hours of 31 March. The Russians say they left on 30 March.

In the hours after death, bodies go through a process called rigor mortis where muscles contract and stiffen.

We asked a forensic pathologist for their opinion on whether a body would be expected to be "stiffened" after four days. One who has worked in places including Kosovo and Rwanda on war crimes investigations, who did not want to be named, told the BBC that by four days rigor mortis has "usually subsided".

The Russian tweet also claimed that the bodies "have no typical cadaver stains".

It's not clear what this means but the pathologist said the appearance of someone who has died from a gunshot wound or other act of violence will vary widely depending on the weapon used, from what distance they were shot and so on.

There isn't always a lot of visible blood as it may pool underneath people or soak into heavy clothing, especially if someone is dressed for cold weather. The tweet could be referring to the fact the blood within your body pools downwards after death as it stops circulating around the body, which can lead the skin to turn reddish or purple.

But if someone is lying down, the site of this blood pooling and discolouration may well not be visible from an image alone.


Claim: 'Not a single local resident has suffered from any violent action'
The Russian defence ministry claimed that while Bucha was under Russian control "not a single local resident has suffered from any violent action".

This claim, however, contradicts numerous eyewitness accounts from residents.

A local teacher told Human Rights Watch on 4 March that Russian forces had rounded up five men and summarily executed one of them.

Local residents who spoke to the Russian investigative website The Insider painted a similar picture. "These were horrific days. When neither your courtyard, your house or even your life belongs to you. There is no electricity, water, gas. It's forbidden to leave the house, if you leave - you get shot," local resident Kristina told The Insider.

Locals told the BBC that the Russians had systematically broken down doors to loot flats, and, while soldiers stole valuables and food, residents were forced to sit in the cellar.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Issues Final Ultimatum to Roman Abramovich Over £2.5bn Chelsea Sale Funds for Ukraine
Rare Pink Fog Sweeps Across Parts of the UK as Met Office Warns of Poor Visibility
UK Police Pledge ‘More Assertive’ Enforcement to Tackle Antisemitism at Protests
UK Police Warn They Will Arrest Protesters Chanting ‘Globalise the Intifada’
Trump Files $10 Billion Defamation Lawsuit Against BBC as Broadcaster Pledges Legal Defence
UK Says U.S. Tech Deal Talks Still Active Despite Washington’s Suspension of Prosperity Pact
UK Mortgage Rules to Give Greater Flexibility to Borrowers With Irregular Incomes
UK Treasury Moves to Position Britain as Leading Global Hub for Crypto Firms
U.S. Freezes £31 Billion Tech Prosperity Deal With Britain Amid Trade Dispute
Prince Harry and Meghan’s Potential UK Return Gains New Momentum Amid Security Review and Royal Dialogue
Zelensky Opens High-Stakes Peace Talks in Berlin with Trump Envoy and European Leaders
Historical Reflections on Press Freedom Emerge Amid Debate Over Trump’s Media Policies
UK Boosts Protection for Jewish Communities After Sydney Hanukkah Attack
UK Government Declines to Comment After ICC Prosecutor Alleges Britain Threatened to Defund Court Over Israel Arrest Warrant
Apple Shutters All Retail Stores in the United Kingdom Under New National COVID-19 Lockdown
US–UK Technology Partnership Strains as Key Trade Disagreements Emerge
UK Police Confirm No Further Action Over Allegation That Andrew Asked Bodyguard to Investigate Virginia Giuffre
Giuffre Family Expresses Deep Disappointment as UK Police Decline New Inquiry Into Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor Claims
Transatlantic Trade Ambitions Hit a Snag as UK–US Deal Faces Emerging Challenges
Ex-ICC Prosecutor Alleges UK Threatened to Withdraw Funding Over Netanyahu Arrest Warrant Bid
UK Disciplinary Tribunal Clears Carter-Ruck Lawyer of Misconduct in OneCoin Case
‘Pink Ladies’ Emerge as Prominent Face of UK Anti-Immigration Protests
Nigel Farage Says Reform UK Has Become Britain’s Largest Party as Labour Membership Falls Sharply
Google DeepMind and UK Government Launch First Automated AI Lab to Accelerate Scientific Discovery
UK Economy Falters Ahead of Budget as Growth Contracts and Confidence Wanes
Australia Approves Increased Foreign Stake in Strategic Defence Shipbuilder
Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson proclaims, “For Ukraine, surrendering their land would be a nightmare.”
Microsoft Challenges £2.1 Billion UK Cloud Licensing Lawsuit at Competition Tribunal
Fake Doctor in Uttar Pradesh Accused of Killing Woman After Performing YouTube-Based Surgery
Hackers Are Hiding Malware in Open-Source Tools and IDE Extensions
Traveling to USA? Homeland Security moving toward requiring foreign travelers to share social media history
UK Officials Push Back at Trump Saying European Leaders ‘Talk Too Much’ About Ukraine
UK Warns of Escalating Cyber Assault Linked to Putin’s State-Backed Operations
UK Consumer Spending Falters in November as Households Hold Back Ahead of Budget
UK Orders Fresh Review of Prince Harry’s Security Status After Formal Request
U.S. Authorises Nvidia to Sell H200 AI Chips to China Under Security Controls
Trump in Direct Assault: European Leaders Are Weak, Immigration a Disaster. Russia Is Strong and Big — and Will Win
"App recommendation" or disguised advertisement? ChatGPT Premium users are furious
"The Great Filtering": Australia Blocks Hundreds of Thousands of Minors From Social Networks
Mark Zuckerberg Pulls Back From Metaverse After $70 Billion Loss as Meta Shifts Priorities to AI
Nvidia CEO Says U.S. Data-Center Builds Take Years while China ‘Builds a Hospital in a Weekend’
Indian Airports in Turmoil as IndiGo Cancels Over a Thousand Flights, Stranding Thousands
Hollywood Industry on Edge as Netflix Secures Near-$60 Bln Loan for Warner Bros Takeover
Drugs and Assassinations: The Connection Between the Italian Mafia and Football Ultras
Hollywood megadeal: Netflix acquires Warner Bros. Discovery for 83 billion dollars
The Disregard for a Europe ‘in Danger of Erasure,’ the Shift Toward Russia: Trump’s Strategic Policy Document
Two and a Half Weeks After the Major Outage: A Cloudflare Malfunction Brings Down Multiple Sites
UK data-regulator demands urgent clarity on racial bias in police facial-recognition systems
Labour Uses Biscuits to Explain UK Debt — MPs Lean Into Social Media to Reach New Audiences
German President Lays Wreath at Coventry as UK-Germany Reaffirm Unity Against Russia’s Threat
×