On April 13, workers dig up remains from a makeshift grave in Bucha, Ukraine. Tetsuro Takehana BUCHA, Ukraine - Residents in this horror-filled city said their connection to Russia likely led to their survival during the monthlong occupation by increasingly brutal Russian troops.
Images of corpses left in public in Bucha have heightened allegations that Russia is committing war crimes against Ukrainian civilians.
One area with an especially high death rate was Ivana Franka Street.
At least seven people living along the street were killed and four other residents on side streets were found dead.
Surviving residents said different Russian troops came to the neighborhood every few days or so.
The first contingent who checked the interiors of homes in the area were relatively mild-mannered, they said.
A 54-year-old bank security guard recalled how a Russian soldier tried to pay him for damaging his car window.
The next contingent was more brutal. After their arrival, shots were often rang out, and bodies were found on the street in early March.
The bank security guard said he did not know why he was spared.
He said that he doesn't know what the difference was. The difference in treatment depended on whether or not the civilians had a direct connection to Russia, according to others.
A former nurse, 70, said troops entered her home but did nothing once she showed them her Russian passport and talked to them in Russian.
She said young people who spoke Ukrainian were killed one after another.
A 39-year-old electrician who lives near Ivanka Franka Street said his home was searched by Russian troops. When his elderly mother told them that she had relatives in Russia, the soldiers told her that they would not harm civilians.
After the Russian troops left Bucha, the electrician discovered that a neighbor and a childhood friend were among those killed during the occupation.
The Convention on Genocide defines genocide as an act of violence against groups based on race, race or religion. The number of killed is not taken into account.
Russian troops could be accused of genocide if they killed people after identifying them as Ukrainian.