Sexual Violence In The 2022 Russian Invasion Of Ukraine

Sexual violence in the 2022 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.

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, suffering the predictable psychological consequences."

Nature and extent of sexual violence

In its report covering the initial period of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, from 24 February to 26 March 2022, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) listed four types of risks of sexual violence: increased military presence and activities in civilian areas, the destruction of homes and infrastructure, internal displacement, and high numbers of women and girls leaving Ukraine caused high risks of conflict-related sexual violence and human trafficking. OHCHR stated that reports to a national telephone hotline service indicated a high risk of sexual violence, and that several factors made under-reporting likely.

Following the late March liberation of the Kyiv region and reports of gang rape, gunpoint sexual assaults, and rapes in front of children, ''The Guardian'' said that Ukrainian women were facing a threat of rape as a weapon of war. As of May 2022, about 82.4% of cases of sexual violence related to the conflict that were reported by the United Nations were alleged to have been perpetrated by Russian or Russian-aligned combatants, while about 9.25% were reported to have been committed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces or law enforcement. On 29 June, 2022, the OHCHR reported that it had received 108 allegations of conflict related sexual violence and it had verified 23 cases. On 2 December, 2022, the OHCHR reported that it had documented 86 cases of conflict-related sexual violence, including rape, gang rape, forced nudity and forced public stripping, most of which were perpetrated by members of the Russian armed forces or police authorities. The OHCHR also reported that Ukrainian law enforcement authorities were investigating 43 cases of sexual violence.

Pramila Patten, UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, said in an interview with AFP in October 2022 that she believed that Russia was using rape as a weapon of war: "When you hear women testify about Russian soldiers equipped with Viagra, it's clearly a military strategy". The UN official also stated that the actual number of victims was likely far higher than the official statistics.

Sexual violence as a weapon of war

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe released a statement on 19 June 2022 condemning the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war. Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid ''"called for an urgent end to the use of rape and other sexual crimes as a tactic of war in Ukraine"''. They highlighted the need for continued investigation, the prosecution of sexual violence during the war, and called on the international community to provide assistance to the survivors. In November 2022 the OSCE participated in the ''16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence'' and called for ''"an end to the use of rape, sexual violence and other sexual crimes as a tactic of war in Ukraine"''.

UN envoy Pramila Patten, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, stated ''"When women are held for days and raped, when you start to rape little boys and men, when you see a series of genital mutilations, when you hear women testify about Russian soldiers equipped with Viagra, it’s clearly a military strategy."'' They stated the cases currently reported are the ''"tip of the iceberg"''. Ukraine's prosecutor general commented that acts of sexual violence is massively under reported due to the difficulty investigators faced in Russian occupied areas and the fear and shame experienced by survivors, ''"To investigate sexual crimes on the occupied territory, when we are still in the military conflict, is very hard,” said Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova. “It’s very difficult, because the victims are actually scared."''

Extent of sexual violence

Reports of sexual violence against women, men, and children have been widespread in areas liberated from Russian occupation. Evidence of mass acts of sexual violence began to be unconvered early in the conflict; Information regarding sexual violence by Russian soldiers in occupied areas have been steadily accumulating, allowing prosecutors to begin criminal proceeding and providing additional information for investigations. Ukraine's prosecutor generals office stated they are documenting acts of sexual violence against civilians in all areas occupied by Russian soldiers; evidence shows that acts of sexual violence were committed against men and children in addition to women.

The United Nations, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and humanitarian organizations have all confirmed the widespread use of sexual violence by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. The United Nations reported in January 2023, that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights had documented over 90 cases of sexual violence in Russian occupied areas.

The New York Times reported ''"widespread evidence of sexual violence by Russian troops documented by Ukrainian and international investigators"''; Anna Sosonska, an investigator in Ukraine's prosecutor general’s office stated, ''"We are finding this problem of sexual violence in every place that Russia occupied ... Every place: Kyiv region, Chernihiv region, Kharkiv region, Donetsk region and also here in Kherson region."'' The BBC reported on additional evidence of widespread sexual violence in the Kyiv region.

Communications intercepts

Since the beginning of the invasion, the Ukrainian Security Service has been monitoring and releasing communications, mainly phone calls, made by Russian soldiers and officials. Many of these communications have included comments regarding sexual violence.

Ukrainska Pravda reported an intercepted telephone conversation where a Russian soldier recounts their experience with sexual violence in Ukraine and its widespread nature;

"When we surrendered Lyman, we slaughtered everyone out there, f**king khokhols derogatory Russian term for Ukrainians.. We raped them, slaughtered them, shot them. In Lyman and Torske, we just walked around shooting everyone. All the men who were younger were taken to us out there, and the women, young ones: they were all f**ked, slaughtered, shot."

Security services of Ukraine released an intercepted phone call from a Russian solider stating, ''"Locals hate us all here. Ours ussian soldiersrape local women"''. The Toronto Sun reported 14 April 2022 on an intercepted phone call where "A Russian wife laid down two ground rules after giving her soldier husband permission to rape women during the invasion of Ukraine"; ''"Rape them, yeah, ... Don’t tell me anything, understand? Yeah, I allow you — just use protection."''

Sexual violence during refugee crisis

There have been at least two separate cases of women and children refugees who were allegedly taken advantage of while they were fleeing the violence in Ukraine. A man was arrested in Poland in mid-March for the alleged rape of a 19-year-old refugee who reportedly had sought shelter and aid from the man and two men reportedly assaulted a Ukrainian teenage refugee who was staying in German accommodations for refugees. Prior to the launch of the United Kingdom Government's housing scheme for refugees, one woman reported a man who attempted to have her stay with him and promised free accommodation, food, expenses and a monthly allowance in return for sex. The woman reportedly tried to rebuff the man, who only stopped after she informed him she was traveling with her mother.

Children and elderly

The United Nations has found that victims of sexual violence in Ukraine include children as young as 4 and adults older than 80.

In late September 2022, a panel of investigators from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine released a statement which said that the commission has "documented cases in which children have been raped, tortured, and unlawfully confined" and labeled these as war crimes. The same report also referenced children being killed and injured by Russia's indiscriminate attacks as well as forced separation from family and kidnapping.

In the Kyiv region, two Russian soldiers raped an entire family, including the husband, wife and their four-year-old daughter. In regions outside of Kyiv, Russian soldiers raped an 83-year-old woman, whose disabled husband was also present in the home. In another village in the same region, Russian soldiers gang-raped a 56-year-old woman after robbing her. Later the Russians tortured and murdered her husband.

Reports and statements

* According to the Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict data set, sexual violence by Russian forces has been reported in three of seven years of conflict since 2014 in eastern Ukraine.
* In April 2022, Ukrainian officials and human rights organisations reported that Russian troops were using sexual violence on a huge scale as an instrument of war against the civilian population, to break down the morale of Ukrainians and prevent them from resisting. On 3 April, La Strada Ukraine, which runs a hotline for helping survivors of human trafficking, sexual assault and domestic violence, stated that rape is underreported and stigmatised in peacetime and that the cases known to the organisation could be "the tip of the iceberg".
* On 3 April 2022, British Ambassador to Ukraine Melinda Simmons called rape ''"an element of Russia's unprovoked war campaign ... Though we don't yet know the full extent of its use in Ukraine, it's already clear it was part of Russia's arsenal. ... Women raped in front of their kids, girls in front of their families, as a deliberate act of subjugation."''
* On 21 April 2022, the Canadian and UK foreign ministers Mélanie Joly and Liz Truss jointly signed a letter in which they said that rape was being "used as a weapon of war" by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. They described rape as a weapon of war to be "a systematic weapon to exert control and exercise power over women ... as destructive in conflict as chemical weapons or landmines, which are both banned by international conventions, but yet to be treated as seriously."
* In May 2022 Ukraine's prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said that she was sure that rape was used as a deliberate war tactic by the Russian army.
* On 19 June 2022, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe released a statement condemning sexual violence in war and referenced the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war against Ukraine. It stated in part, ''"''Today, on the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid called for an urgent end to the use of rape and other sexual crimes as a tactic of war in Ukraine and elsewhere in the OSCE region and beyond''."''
* On 27 September 2022 a report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that it was not yet able to draw any conclusions on the extent of conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine, but that it had documented "numerous cases" perpetrated against women, girls and men. OHCHR had documented 9 cases of rape, 15 cases of sexual violence used as a method of torture, and 11 cases of forced public stripping against people considered to be "lawbreakers".
* On 18 October 2022, a United Nations commission issued a report finding Russia responsible for a "pattern of rape and other abuses in Ukraine''"''; they found Russia was responsible for the vast majority of human rights violations and war crimes. The report was presented to the United Nations General Assembly by the Independent Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.
* On 31 October 2022, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that Russian soldiers in Ukraine were responsible of "mass rape".
* In January 2023, Human Rights Watch issued the ''World Report 2023'', the 33rd edition of the human rights report reviewing events during 2022. Regarding Ukraine reported it part, ''"''In areas they occupied, Russian or Russian-affiliated forces committed apparent war crimes, including torture, summary executions, sexual violence, and enforced disappearances''."''

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. '' Meduza'' published a report about this incident and similar crimes in the Bogdanivka region. Russian spokesperson Dmitry Peskov

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