Speaking at a news conference after talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Mr Lukashenko suggested that Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) provide evidence of the allegations. “It’s like Bucha,” said the Belarusian dictator. “It simply came to our notice then. Everyone is screaming: “Well, we should have presented another package. Today we discussed in detail their “psychological special operation” carried out by the British. “If you need addresses, passwords, car numbers, car brands, where they arrived in Bucha and how they did it, the FSB of the Russian Federation can provide this information. If not, we can help. “ He went on to say that if Russia had delayed its invasion on February 24 “even a little”, “an overwhelming blow was being prepared on Russian soil, it was possible, we saw it clearly today.” The Kremlin and its allies have tried in recent days to characterize the Bucha horrors as a “staged” incident, but so far have not directly blamed the United Kingdom or other Western nations. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting with the Russian President at the Soyuz-2 space rocket complex near the town of Tsiolkovsky in the eastern Amur region of Russia. (EPA) Mr Lukashenko echoed Putin’s comments at the same press conference, reiterating that the images and footage of corpses in Bucha were “fake”. Comparing allegations that Moscow’s troops executed civilians with Western outcry over the use of chemical weapons in the war in Syria that the Kremlin said was intended to discredit Bashar al-Assad, Putin said: “It’s the same fake in Bush ». Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko meet on Tuesday (EPA) Vladimir Putin delivers speech as he visits Vostochny spaceport (via REUTERS) In 2018, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that a chemical attack reported in Syria, where Russian forces were operating in support of the country’s president, was organized by foreign agents. The Russian Defense Ministry accused the United Kingdom of specifically helping to organize the attack, which the UK envoy to the UN said at the time was a “ridiculous, blatant lie”. Moscow insists Ukrainian allegations of a massacre in Bukha are a “monstrous forgery” aimed at discrediting the Russian military. But on Tuesday, the mayor of Bukha said 403 bodies had been recovered so far killed by Russian forces. The Russian troops retreated late last month, suffering heavy casualties, but Anatoly Fedoruk said it was still too early for the townspeople to return.
