Denis Ponomarenko16:40, 01/05/23

Currently, the prosecutor’s office has already opened 154 cases of sexual violence against Ukrainian civilians by Russian invaders.

Journalists from the American edition of the New York Times published an investigation into sexual violence against Ukrainian civilians in the de-occupied territories by Russian soldiers.

In particular, there is evidence that Russian commanders knew about the rapes or even encouraged them,  the NYT writes ,  citing Irina Didenko, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office for handling cases of sexual violence. In some cases, according to Didenko, they gave orders to rape or gave instructions to “go relax.”

Didenko says there is a clear pattern of behavior when Russian troops occupy territory: “Ground troops arrive, and on the second or third day the rapes start.

In one of the cases, which is described in the investigation, the commander allowed the soldiers to enter a residential building, while remaining outside himself. At the same time, a soldier was heard saying: “We will simply beat this one, and we will rape this one.” In another case, eight Russian soldiers raped a man who was stopped at a checkpoint.

According to Didenko, a total of 154 cases of rape were officially established. However, the prosecutor believes that in fact there are much more such cases. For example, in one of the previously occupied villages in the Kyiv region, psychologists found that every ninth woman was subjected to sexual violence.

According to prosecutors and city officials, rape victims are reluctant to talk about what happened, and against the background of the war, the situation worsens, as they can be accused of collaborating with the Russian army.

Most cases of sexual violence revealed in Kherson region

A special mobile group recorded 64 facts of sexual violence by Russian invaders in the de-occupied part of the Kherson region. This is more than in other liberated regions of Ukraine.

There are cases when Russian servicemen raped a woman in the Kherson region for four months. Since March, another local resident has been systematically exposed and tortured – she was doused with boiling water.

(C)UNIAN 2023