Russia and Ukraine trade accusations over Bucha civilian deaths (TIMELINE)

Ukraine has accused Russian troops of committing war crimes in the city of Bucha. However, Moscow insists that the allegations are baseless and has implied that the Ukrainian government is manipulating the media to smear Russia.

Bucha is a small city of around 35,000 residents, located some 10km northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kiev. From the early days of the ongoing Russian military attack, Moscow's troops have been present in the area, but last week they were ordered to evacuate.

Days after the withdrawal, Kiev accused the Russian military of committing numerous atrocities in Bucha. Moscow has denied the allegations and unsuccessfully tried to call a UN Security Council meeting to discuss what it claims to be an attempt to frame its forces.

Russia’s foreign intelligence service earlier warned that Kiev was working to downplay footage of what appeared to be Ukrainian soldiers torturing Russian prisoners of war. The Russian military had warned that provocations could be staged by the Ukrainian side in order to manipulate public, and political opinion in the West.

Here is a timeline of how the events unfolded.

March 29
Talks in Istanbul
The Russian military announced a partial drawdown after Turkey-hosted Russian-Ukrainian peace talks.
Moscow stated that the progress made during the talks created the conditions for a scale-down of hostilities near Kiev, saying it was meant as a concession to the Ukrainian government, but many commenters were skeptical about the motives. Some claimed that it was a reflection of reduced military ambitions, due to tenacious Ukrainian resistance.
During the talks, Russian officials demand an investigation into the footage of alleged torture of POWs, indicating there would be no mercy for the perpetrators, should they be captured. Ukrainian officials pledged to get to the bottom of it, stating that such behavior wouldn't be tolerated from their soldiers.

However, no actions appears to have been taken.

April 2
Ukrainian commandos deployed to Bucha
The Ukrainian national police said it had deployed its ‘Safari’ commando regiment to Bucha to “clear the territory of saboteurs and Russian troop collaborators,” as well as to “inspect the sites of war crimes committed by Russia.”
Evidence of purported Russian atrocities in Bucha began to pour out from the city on the same day. Images from the city showed streets littered with bodies in civilian clothes, some with their hands bound behind their backs.
Kiev claimed Russian soldiers summarily executed civilians before withdrawing from the city. The scale of destruction in Bucha indicated that Russia attempted to subject Ukrainian people to genocide, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba claimed. On April 3, the Prosecutor General's office reported recovering 410 bodies of civilians from the city.
Western officials condemned Russia, taking the Ukrainian allegations at face value.