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Oligarch Deripaska: Deviating from the Kremlin line
Photo: © Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters/ REUTERS
The Russian aluminum company Rusal was the first large Russian company to call for an "objective and independent investigation of the crime" in the Ukrainian city of Bucha near Kyiv.
With its press release, the company deviates from the language of the Kremlin, which described the killing of civilians in Bucha as a "fake".
In Bucha, which was occupied by Russian troops for weeks after the outbreak of war, more than 300 civilian bodies were found after the Ukrainian military recaptured the town.
Some of the victims showed signs of torture.
Kyiv accuses Moscow of serious war crimes, but the Russian leadership speaks of "staging".
In the press release, Rusal does not assign blame directly, but speaks of a shocking crime and calls for "harsh punishment for the perpetrators."
At the same time, the aluminum giant is in favor of a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict.
One of Rusal's largest shareholders is billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who is considered to be close to the Kremlin and has been on the US sanctions list since 2018.
After the start of the Russian war of aggression, he was one of the first big businessmen to advocate peace negotiations.
mik/dpa-AFX