UN investigates allegations of rape and sexual violence against Ukrainian women

Women in a bomb shelter in an almost abandoned neighborhood in Kharkov, Ukraine, March 28 – Photo: REUTERS

According to Reuters news agency, a human rights group in Ukraine accused the Russian military of using rape as a weapon of war.

Kateryna Cherepakha, president of La Strada – Ukraine, said that the organization’s emergency hotline had received calls with the content of Russian soldiers being involved in nine rapes with 12 women. and girls.

Testifying before the United Nations Security Council via video, she said, “this is just the tip of the iceberg. We know and see (this story). We want you to hear our voices that violence force and rape are being used as a weapon of war by Russian forces in Ukraine”.

Newspaper The Guardian Ukraine’s human rights inspector, Lyudmyla Denisova, said she had documented acts of sexual violence by Russian forces in Bucha and elsewhere. According to Denisova, there were cases of women and girls being held in basements for 25 days, nine of the victims were pregnant.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Nations Sergiy Kyslytsya told the Security Council that the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine was “launching a special investigation into cases of sexual violence by Russian soldiers against Ukrainian women”. .

Russia has repeatedly denied attacking civilians since launching a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24.

Last week, the United Nations said its human rights watchdog was verifying allegations of sexual violence against Russian forces, including gang rape and rape in front of children. The United Nations also said that Ukrainian forces and the country’s self-defense militia had also committed acts of sexual violence.

On April 11, Russia’s Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyanskiy, told the Security Council that “Russia, as it has repeatedly stated, does not wage war against civilians”. Russia accuses Ukraine and its allies of “clear intent in treating Russian soldiers as sadists and rapists”.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s mission to the United Nations has not yet commented on the UN’s unfavorable statement against Ukraine’s forces.

UN Women (UN Women) Executive Director Sima Bahous demanded that all allegations (rape and sexual violence) be independently investigated to ensure justice and accountability. .

She told the Security Council: “We hear more and more about rape and sexual violence. This is alarming due to the combination of mass evacuations, great pressure from soldiers. conscripts and mercenaries”.

Both Ukraine and Russia have military service laws and both accuse each other of using mercenaries.