Sexual violence in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Sexual violence in the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been committed by Armed Forces of Russia, including the use of mass rape as a weapon of war. According to the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, the victims of sexual assault by Russian soldiers ranged from 4 years old to over 80 years old.[1]
The United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner issued a report on human rights violations and war crimes in October 2022; in the opening summary section, it stated, "Furthermore, the Commission documented patterns of summary executions, unlawful confinement, torture, ill-treatment, and rape and other sexual violence committed in areas occupied by Russian armed forces across the four provinces on which it focused. People have been detained, some have been unlawfully deported to the Russian Federation, and many are still reported missing. Sexual violence has affected victims of all ages. Victims, including children, were sometimes forced to witness the crimes. Children have become the victims of the full spectrum of violations investigated by the Commission, including indiscriminate attacks, torture and rape, and have suffered the predictable psychological consequences."[2]
Prominent cases in the media
In late March, the Prosecutor General, Venediktova, started an investigation into a claim of Russian soldiers shooting a man and then raping his wife. The Times published an interview with the woman. She stated that she was from a small village in Brovary Raion. According to her testimony, when Russian soldiers arrived at the couple's house, they shot the couple's dog and then murdered her husband telling her, "You don't have a husband anymore. I shot him with this gun. He was a fascist." The woman was gang raped at gunpoint multiple times over several hours while the soldiers drank; eventually they became "so drunk they were barely standing". The woman eventually escaped with her son who had been in the home while this occurred. The alleged rapists were later identified from social media profiles.[60][61] Meduza published a report about this incident and similar crimes in the Bogdanivka region.[62] Russian spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the allegations as "a lie".[63] An arrest warrant was issued in the case for an identified Russian soldier based on "suspicion of violation of the laws and customs of war".[63][64] The case has been verified by OHCHR and it was described in its June 2022 report on human rights in Ukraine during the Russian invasion.[61]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on a 13 March beating and rape of a 31-year-old woman in the village of Mala Rohan in Kharkiv Raion, which at the time was controlled by the Russian Armed Forces. The report stated a Russian soldier entered a school and beat and raped at gunpoint a woman sheltering with her family and other villagers.[8]
The BBC News interviewed a 50-year-old woman from a village 70 kilometres (70,000 m) west of Kyiv, who said she was raped at gunpoint by a Chechen allied with the Russian Armed Forces. According to neighbours a 40-year-old woman was raped and killed by the same soldier, leaving what the BBC News described as a "disturbing crime scene". The police chief of Kyiv Oblast, Andrii Nebytov, stated that the police were investigating a case on 9 March when Russian soldiers shot a man and repeatedly raped his wife. The soldiers pillaged and burnt the house and killed the family's dogs.[65]
In September 2022, two fighters of the Donetsk People's Republic were allegedly raped by allied Chechen Kadyrovite soldiers in the village of Berestove. [66][67] The perpetrators also allegedly threatened other service people who attempted to protect the victims.[68] Abubakar Yangulbaev, a human rights activist, confirmed the authenticity of the related video.[69]
The New York Times described how one woman was "held as a sex slave, naked except for a fur coat and locked in a potato cellar before being executed", found after the late March 2022 liberation of the Kyiv region.[70] Bucha mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk stated that at least 25 rapes had been reported during Bucha massacre.[71]
In June 2023, The Sunday Times reported on two former Ukrainian soldiers who had been tortured by Russians while in captivity and castrated with a knife, before being freed in a prisoner of war swap. A psychologist who was treating the men stated that she had heard of many other similar cases from her colleagues. The same report stated that doctors at a maternity clinic in Poltava reported cases of women who had been raped by Russian soldiers and then had window sealant injected into their sexual organs so that they could never have children.[72]
Responses
Protests
Women held protests at Russian embassies against rape by Russian soldiers in the invasion. The women protested with bags over their heads, their hands tied behind their backs, and their bare legs covered in red liquid, symbolising blood, with four women protesting on 16 April 2022 in Dublin, Ireland,[73] and 80 women protesting on the same day in Vilnius, Lithuania.[74] On 20 April, a similar protest, by 130 women took place in front of the Russian embassy in Riga, Latvia,[75] and another was held by a dozen women in front of the Russian consulate in Gdańsk, Poland.[76]
Investigations
In August 2022, Ukraine's prosecutor general's office reported that there were "several dozen" criminal proceedings underway for sexual violence committed by Russian servicemen.[77] As of 31 October 2022, Ukrainian authorities were reportedly investigating 43 cases of sexual violence.[9] In November the same year two Russian soldiers were convicted of war crimes in absentia for sexual violence towards civilians.[78][79]
Ukrainian Prosecutor Iryna Didenko stated in January 2023 that their office had opened 154 cases related to acts sexual violence committed by Russian soldiers, but cautioned that the actual number of incidents is probably far higher. They stated that doctors and mental health workers had determined that in the Kyiv Oblast one in nine women had experienced sexual violence during the Russian occupation. Didenko added that Russian invaders have a clear pattern of behavior: “Ground forces arrive, and rapes start on the second or third day".[80]