Russia denies Ukrainian allegations its forces killed civilians near Kiev

"This information must be seriously questioned," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call, according to Realnoye Vremya.

"From what we have seen, our experts have identified signs of video falsification and other fakes."

Peskov said that the facts and chronology of the events in Bucha did not support Ukraine's version of events and urged international leaders not to rush to judgment.

"We categorically deny any accusations," said Peskov. 

"The situation is undoubtedly serious and we would ask that many international leaders not rush with their statements, not rush with their baseless accusations, request information from different sources, and at least listen to our explanations."

Peskov said that Russia's diplomats would press on with their efforts to convene a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss what Moscow has called "Ukrainian provocations" in Bucha despite their first effort to arrange such a meeting being blocked.

"The initiative itself of raising this topic to the platform of the U.N. Security Council suggests that Russia wants and demands that this topic be raised at the international level," Peskov said.

Russia’s envoy to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said yesterday that available evidence leaves no doubt the events in Bucha, as they are presented by Ukraine, were staged, according to TASS.

"The footage that was being presented in particular, in Bucha, on which I spoke does not give us any doubt that this was staged," he said at a news conference.  "We will present more evidence."

Nebenzya at his news conference at the UN headquarters demonstrated footage that showed Ukraine’s footage from Bucha as staged.

Russia has repeatedly seen how so-called independent investigations were in fact not independent, Nebenzya said.

Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday they were investigating possible crimes by Russian forces after finding hundreds of bodies strewn around towns outside the capital Kiev after the Russian withdrawal from the area.

The BBC says the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres has called for an independent investigation into "the images of civilians killed in Bucha."