Kyiv: Amid a month – long occupation and retreat, Ukraine’s prosecutor General Irina Venedikova says Russia is committing massacres and mass rape of women and girls in populated areas of Ukraine. It is alleged that the Russian military carried out massacres and gang rapes to seize the occupied territories and create fear among the people. Many women and girls have come forward with complaints about the sexual abuse of Russian soldiers after Ukraine recaptured 30 small towns from Russia, including Irpin, Bucha and Gostomel.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba and Ukrainian MP Maria Mesentseva have made similar allegations. ‘They attack and rape women in front of their families to make sure there is no resistance or retaliation in the captured cities. Girls are gang-raped and killed in front of their parents. Their mothers are raped and killed in front of their young children. “Russia is committing grave human rights abuses in Ukrainian settlements,” said Irina Venedikova.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has accused the Russian military of massacring civilians who surrender unarmed and committing gang rapes and assassinations.
The sexual harassment of Russian soldiers has come under international scrutiny after a Ukrainian woman came to the scene days ago after she was allegedly raped by Russian troops in front of her 4 – year – old son after killing her husband. ‘Once I heard gunshots, and then the gate opened and someone was walking by. They killed my pet dog first, and then my husband. They told me that my husband had been killed because he was a Nazi. She raped me several times in front of her four-year-old son, ”she said. The woman had revealed that she saw her son crying but did not want to leave him. Protests erupted internationally after the incident was discussed by Irina Venedikova on social media. Venedikova said the Russian military had degenerated enough to use rape as a military tactic, and that what Russia was doing in Ukraine was a genocide and massacre.
The picture, which was released a few days ago by photographer Michael Palinchuk, also received international attention. Palinchuk released a picture of the bodies of a man and three women covered with blankets just 20 kilometers from Kiev. The bodies of the completely naked women were half-burned.
Ukrainian authorities allege that three women were killed and burned after being raped by Russian soldiers. Ukrainian MP Maria Mesentseva said in a television interview that the revelations were only part of a series of Russian atrocities and that many women victims of sexual abuse by Russian soldiers had come forward with revelations.
Ukrainian lawyer Katarina Busol said that in the early days of the Ukrainian occupation, Russian soldiers harassed women and publicly gang-raped them to intimidate people.
English Summary: Rape as a weapon: huge scale of sexual violence endured in Ukraine emerges