Along a street in Bucha, Russian soldiers killed fathers, grandmothers and children. Then, some soldiers used their cell phones. @MashaFroliak and I obtained footage and phone logs to help identify the military unit that killed dozens of civilians in March
nyti.ms/3WuJqJu

We also identified 36 victims killed along that street w/ @heytherehaley. Through morgue records, text messages and interviews, we uncovered how simple acts of survival unwittingly put residents and neighbors in the path of their Russian killers.
nyti.ms/3FKErNT

Over months of reporting @MashaFroliak and I discovered that Russian soldiers used the phones of some of the victims within hours of their execution. We obtained phone records that helped us identify the relative who was dialed in Russia and the soldier who placed the call.

We confirmed that at least 22 of those soldiers are part of the 234th Guards Air Assault Regiment. While we don’t know if they pulled the trigger, their phone calls back home to Russia place their unit where people were killed, when they were killed.

We also obtained documents that revealed the code names of commanders in the 234th Regiment. By matching those code names to ones heard in radio chatter on security cameras along the street, we established that commanders were in charge when the killings occurred.

The investigation culminates a year of reporting in Ukraine w/ @MashaFroliak and colleagues at @nytvideo to uncover atrocities committed by Russian soldiers, including the over 400 lives lost in Bucha.

Our first investigation exposed how Russian soldiers executed eight Ukrainian men at 144 Yablunska Street, where their bodies would lie in a courtyard for weeks. nyti.ms/3joJv2X

Our second investigation revealed damning insider accounts of battlefield failures and civilian executions in phone calls placed by Russian soldiers to friends and family at home. nyti.ms/3FNbz7B

This final visual investigation was co-produced by @ckoettl @heytherehaley @malachybrowne, edited by @dim109 and @NatalieReneau and animated by @ajcardia. Additional reporting by @evanhill @ishaan_jhavs and @julianbarnes.

Senior Producers: @malachybrowne with @whitney_hurst and @hanaansarhan. Executive Producer: @markscheffler. Translations by @msalexkoroleva, Oksana Nesterenko and Milana Mazaeva.

Our investigation into the killing of 36 Ukrainian victims was thoughtfully designed and produced by @alizauf and @the_log_lady nyti.ms/3HSL0AH