There is evidence that Russian commanders in several instances were aware of sexual violence by military personnel in Ukraine ‘and in some cases, encouraging it or even ordering it,’ according to a lawyer assisting Kyiv’s war crimes investigations
British lawyer Wayne Jordash told Reuters that in some areas around the capital of Kyiv in the north, where the probes are most advanced, some of the sexual violence involved a level of organisation by Russian armed forces that “speaks to planning on a more systematic level.” He didn’t identify specific individuals under scrutiny.
They shared accounts of alleged sexual violence by Russian armed forces that occurred in various parts of Ukraine: many included allegations of family members being forced to watch or multiple soldiers participating or acts being conducted at gunpoint. Rape can constitute a war crime under the Geneva Conventions that establish international legal standards for conduct of armed conflicts. Widespread or systematic sexual violence could amount to crimes against humanity, which are generally seen as more serious, legal specialists said.
“There are indications that sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war,” Pramila Patten, the Special Representative of the U.N. Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, told Reuters citing accounts of circumstances such as rape in front of family members, gang rape and forced nudtiy.Kyiv has said it is examining tens of thousands of reports as part of its investigations into alleged war crimes by Russian military personnel; sexual violence accounts for only a small part of those.
According to Viktoriia, a slim-built 42-year old, those two soldiers walked her to a neighbouring house, where one shot dead a man when he tried to prevent them taking his wife. The two soldiers then took both women to a nearby house, where Viktoriia said she was raped by one of them. The other woman was also raped, according to that woman’s sister and Viktoriia. Reuters was unable to reach the second woman, whose family said had left Ukraine.
Reuters couldn’t establish whether there was a direct link between the alleged attacks and marking of the homes.Allegations of rape and sexual violence surfaced soon after Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and have come from across the country, according to accounts Reuters gathered and the U.N. investigative body.
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