Russia's butchers of Bucha aren't true soldiers. They are barbarians murdering civilians.

The views expressed in this column are the author's alone and not those of the U.S. government.

The blood-soaked land of Ukraine has once again become the site of new atrocities. During World War II, millions of Ukrainians were killed as many of the largest battles of the war were fought there.

More than 75 years later, the images broadcast around the world from Bucha and the surrounding suburbs of Kyiv are abhorrent and reminiscent of a bygone era, not 2022.

On Friday, Russian forces fired a rocket at a crowded train station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, killing at least 50 people, including five children, according to Ukrainian leaders.

As a member of the U.S. Army and a professional soldier, I am particularly incensed at these wanton attacks on defenseless civilians.

The butchers of Bucha were no soldiers, but a barbarian horde looting, pillaging and murdering. Having served previously as an airborne infantry officer, and now as an Army judge advocate general (lawyer) responsible for training soldiers on compliance with the law of war, it is clear to me that the disorganized rabble that is the Russian armed forces received no meaningful training.  

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The principal purpose of the law of war is to protect individuals not taking part in fighting, including civilians, medical personnel and those no longer able to fight, such as wounded troops and prisoners of war. Treaties and protocols lay out who can be targeted and with what weapons.

Certain weapons are prohibited, including chemical or biological agents. One of the fundamental principles of the law of war is to attack targets only out of military necessity and to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants. The cold-blooded murder of bound civilians is nothing less than murder.  

Following basic principles and the law of war

U.S. policy is that "every soldier, sailor, airman, Marine and all others accompanying U.S. forces must comply" with the law of war, "particularly its basic principles."

Admittedly, individual members of the U.S. armed forces have committed crimes during the 20-year global war on terrorism. Those crimes, including murder, were heinous. But when U.S. authorities learned of these crimes, the accused faced trial. There are several examples of such accountability in the Fort Leavenworth military barracks serving long sentences.

In contrast, the butchers of Bucha did not commit isolated crimes. They performed systematic atrocities. No doubt more will come to light in the newly liberated areas.

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Singular murders are indicative of indiscipline. The scope, scale and circumstances of the killings in Bucha, with victims numbering in the hundreds, indicate intentional acts.

The mass graves in Bucha and in other Kyiv suburbs are hallmarks of premeditated massacres and systematic targeting, not something that occurs in the heat of combat. By claiming the murders in Bucha are staged rather than investigating them, the Russian government is not setting a path toward accountability but toward impunity and further atrocities by its forces.

President Joe Biden and other world leaders have called Vladimir Putin a war criminal. The Department of State followed by announcing that, "based on information currently available, the U.S. government assesses that members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine." 

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The statement emphasized its assessment was "based on a careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources." After Bucha, the urgency to investigate and document these crimes for future accountability has gained an even greater sense of urgency.

Hold the perpetrators accountable

One day the perpetrators of these crimes will be held accountable in a court of law with jurisdiction over the crime. That court will be responsible for determining criminal guilt in specific cases. To convict them, prosecutions will need to present admissible evidence sufficient to prove guilt, including criminal intent.

Each case will be intensely fact-specific and will require painstaking evidence collection and documentation. There are already likely thousands of open-source records, including videos and drone footage that will need to be preserved. There will also be classified evidence. The tasks of the investigation will be enormous and will require the help of the international community.

Just like the West and NATO have stepped up to provide military and humanitarian aid, they will need to make a commitment to assist on war crimes investigations and accountability. This must be done to maintain a rule-based order because bound civilians murdered execution-style on city streets and in basements is worthy of condemnation by all free peoples.

Yevgeny "Eugene" Vindman is a colonel in the United States Army and a foreign policy and international law expert. Follow him on Twitter @YVindman.