Colonel Gorodilov led the unit at the time and was present in the town where hundreds of civilians died, in some cases as a result of brutal executions, The Times found. Russian troops retreated from the area in early 2022. The U.S. government imposed sanctions on Colonel Gorodilov last year for what it called “his involvement in gross violations of human rights, namely extrajudicial killings.”He was promoted to the rank of colonel days after images from Bucha emerged publicly and turned the suburb into a global symbol of the terror that Russian forces have brought to occupied Ukrainian towns. Moscow has denied involvement in the Bucha killings, with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia calling the events “a provocation.” The Times, however, identified two dozen members of the 234th Regiment who were in Bucha at the time of the massacre, in part by tracing the numbers the troops called in Russia using the Ukrainian victims’ mobile phones.

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Persons: Gorodilov, Bucha, Vladimir V, Putin Organizations: Times, 234th Regiment Locations: U.S, Ukrainian, Moscow, Russia, Bucha