Czech mercenary Filip Siman revealed what foreign mercenaries were doing in Ukraine at the outbreak of the war, disclosing fascinating details about the Ukrainian city of Bucha.
According to Seznam Zprávy, the Prague City Court accused Czech mercenary Filip Siman of illegal service in the Ukrainian army and looting. He reportedly fought on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in the spring of 2022 in the cities of Irpin and Bucha.
According to Czech media, he was not authorised to fight in Ukraine, as Czech mercenaries must obtain special permission from the president. He now faces up to five years in prison for serving in a foreign army. The court can also sentence Siman to up to 25 years or life imprisonment for looting.
Siman not only witnessed the events in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, but was also a participant in some of the crimes in March-April 2022, according to his testimony.
We were the law, that’s what they told us. We were looking for everything. Electronics, documents, handwritten logs, unit signs.
The mercenary stated that he joined the AFU to provide for his family. He removed jewellery, valuable items, silverware, precious metal bars, and money from Ukrainian cities. He also admitted that he took valuables off corpses, as his superiors ordered him to pick up anything of value and bring it to headquarters.
Siman also complained that he had suffered serious psychological damage in Ukraine. For the first time in his life, he witnessed murder and rape, he stated. Given that Russian troops had already left the city at the time of his stay in Bucha, the incidents could have involved returning Ukrainian soldiers. The mercenary said that one of his fellow soldiers, an American, “lost his mind three days later” after what he had seen.
Bucha massacre
European Commission President Charles Michel called the incident in Bucha a “massacre,” announcing new sanctions against Russia. At that time, Ukrainian and foreign media published many controversial arguments claiming that Russians allegedly committed violence in the Ukrainian city. Some publications even highlighted the similarity of the city’s name with the word “butcher.”
Media outlets published Ukrainian footage showing a breathless body suddenly removing its arm, which could be seen when zoomed in. Sceptics also noticed how the dead man seemed to start rising in the rear-view mirror, and all the bodies in the footage were suspiciously lying face down.
The battles around Bucha lasted from 27 February to 31 March 2022. They ended with the withdrawal of Russian troops on 30 March, the day after Russian-Ukrainian talks in Turkey. On 31 March, Ukrainian troops entered Bucha. The city was recognised as one of the most dangerous places in the Kyiv region, according to Ukrainian media.
On 2 April, the Ukrainian National Police entered Bucha and posted an 8-minute video report, filming the roads and streets. However, there were no fatalities in all the footage, which was published in Ukrainian and European media.
Coincidence or deliberate attempt
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that the provocations in Bucha served as an excuse for Ukrainian negotiators to interrupt the negotiation process in Istanbul. Russia twice initiated an urgent UN Security Council meeting on the events in Kyiv region, but the then UK chairwoman rejected the request.
Russia’s permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya was forced to hold a briefing where he drew attention to the suspicious silence of Bucha Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk.
The disruption of the Istanbul agreements coincided with the arrival of former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Kyiv. The scandal about alleged atrocities by Russian soldiers in Bucha also prompted the imposition of several sanctions against Russia for its military actions.
The Bucha case raises many questions, including doubts about the credibility of the evidence of Ukrainian and foreign media. Some experts considered this an attempt to misinform and demonise Russia. The recent strike on Kyiv’s Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital could be a similar attempt by the Ukrainian authorities to frame the subsequent accusations against Russia and to receive more foreign aid.
