Germany’s foreign intelligence service told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday that it had intercepted radio transmissions in which Russian military discussed shooting soldiers and civilians in Ukraine, says a person familiar with the meeting.
According to the source, the briefing was the main topic of discussion at the Wednesday meeting.
Despite Moscow’s protestations, the intelligence results appear to connect Russian troops in a pattern of alleged war crimes, most notably in the indiscriminate slaughter of civilians in the Kyiv neighborhood of Bucha.
The BND, Germany’s foreign intelligence service, heard Russian radio communication concerning the slaughter of people in Bucha, according to Der Spiegel, and some of the conversations could be linked to particular killings in Bucha that have been documented since reports of an apparent massacre broke.
According to an American news channel, German intelligence possesses satellite photographs that point to Russian troops being involved in the Bucha killings, citing an unnamed intelligence official, albeit the radio broadcasts have not been traced to that site.
The German intelligence assessment comes amid widespread worldwide condemnation of Bucha and mounting proof that the Russian military is involved in the indiscriminate slaughter of people in Ukraine.
A drone footage taken before March 10 shows a person riding a bicycle being gunned down by Russian military on a street in Bucha. Following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the region, the bodies of at least 20 civilian individuals were discovered on that same street, according to international media.
The German government’s foreign intelligence office and a German government spokesperson both declined to comment on the Der Spiegel report.
The German intercepts aren’t the first audio evidence that Russian forces have been involved in civilian killings.
The Ukrainian Security Service published a series of intercepted audio recordings on Tuesday that purport to show Russians receiving instructions to kill civilians.
