Uncovering a Pattern of ‘Strategic Violence’ by Russia in Ukraine

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, FRONTLINE and the Associated Press have been investigating mounting evidence of war crimes. The two organizations’ recent documentary, Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes, found that in many instances the violence was far from random.

AP Global Investigative Reporter Erika Kinetz, the documentary’s correspondent, joins The FRONTLINE Dispatch to talk about this months-long collaborative investigation. From reporting on the ground in Ukraine, to piecing together hours of CCTV footage and audio intercepts of Russian soldiers’ conversations, Kinetz spoke with FRONTLINE’s editor-in-chief and executive producer Raney Aronson-Rath about working with FRONTLINE producers to trace the story of one woman’s loss to a larger pattern of strategic violence in Bucha and other Kyiv suburbs.

“Victim after victim, survivor after survivor would ask the same question, which is: ‘Why? Why did this happen?’” Kinetz said.  “It didn't actually dawn on me until near the end of our reporting that there were actually patterns at play in the violence that we were seeing, and there were actually strategies motivating a lot of the violence.”

Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes is now streaming on FRONTLINE’s website, the PBS Video App, and FRONTLINE’s YouTube channel. 

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