Your Evening Briefing: New Evidence Surfaces in Ukraine Massacres

German intelligence reportedly intercepted radio exchanges between Russian soldiers who discussed killing Ukrainian civilians outside Kyiv, potentially leveling a powerful retort to widely dismissed Russian claims that massacres in Bucha and elsewhere were “staged.” The German information indicated that Russia’s Wagner Group, a mercenary firm tied to the Kremlin, may have been involved in the atrocities. Some eyewitnesses claimed Chechens were among them as well, Der Spiegel magazine reported. German officials, who presented the intelligence to lawmakers in Berlin Wednesday, say the intercepts indicate that the murder of civilians in the town of Bucha was not an act by rogue forces, but may have been part of a deliberate strategy to foment terror.

The World Health Organization is preparing for potential chemical attacks or accidents in the war in Ukraine, according to the agency’s European head. NATO officials have warned that Vladimir Putin may resort to weapons of mass destruction to turn the tide following the loss of what may be thousands of soldiers in his botched invasion. “WHO is considering all scenarios and making contingencies for different situations that could afflict the people of Ukraine, from the continued treatment of mass casualties, to chemical assaults,” Hans Kluge, Europe Director General for the WHO said at a media briefing in Lviv. Outside Ukraine, some in NATO countries and especially the U.S. have been scratching their heads over why Russia’s vaunted cyber arsenal hasn’t been more of a force to be reckoned with since the war began. Well, according to the New York Times, U.S. officials knew where a lot of Kremlin malware had been planted all over the world, and decided to remove it.