A drama within a drama. That of female victims of sexual violence by soldiers, this time Russian. It’s the complaint that comes from Kyiv. It sounds incredible, but it’s all happening in 2022 and in the heart of Europe. in the Ukraine There are “terrible stories” about women, about sexual violence by the Russian military. Stories that run in the media and that Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, confirms in an interview in which he promises: «Every single soldier who committed this war crime will be held accountable. Ukrainian women, we will remain united and prevail». Today it is she, the 36yearold woman number two in the Kiev government, who is warning of the violence raging against the most vulnerable.
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abuses in war
Like others before her, in other conflicts, on other burning fronts, she speaks of one of the most barbaric abuses, which, unfortunately, multiply in war situations. The deputy prime minister promises that justice will be done: the dramatic stories that are going on will be investigated one by one and verified, he guarantees, it will be the task of the attorney general. Until then, however, the testimonies remain stories and are gone brutal episodes. Some have taken four Ukrainian MPs to London in recent days to visit and meet with Westminster journalists. Lesia Vasylenko, an MP for the opposition Holos party, recounted how Russian forces attack, rape and even hang women who cannot escape their invasion.
Ukraine, soldier in the war: “I learned to hate”
“Women Driven to Suicide by Desperation”
Some are driven to suicide out of desperation, she said, and even among women over 60 there are those who later took their own lives. “When Putin failed to take Ukraine and Kyiv in three days as he had envisioned, he changed his strategy by specifically targeting women and children,” Vasylenko added. Kyiv, with its suburbs of Bucha and Irpin, is the scene of the barbaric sexual assaults mentioned by Vasylenko, quoted by the Daily Mail, which has been sitting in the House of Commons with colleagues Olena Khomenko, Maria Mezentseva and Alona Shkrum for the past few days.
“Most of them were murdered after being raped or killed,” the MP explained, according to the Mirror. “The main problem is that the victims and families do not have the strength and ability to come forward and report them,” Mezentseva said. “Some of the raped women were also hanged. And these are facts that we collect as evidence of war crimes,” he added.
The first testimonies
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was the first to speak of violence against women in the first two weeks of the conflict and referred to “numerous cases” of sexual violence that had already occurred in the first week of the start of the military operation by Fly. The Ukrainianborn feminists of the Femen group also warn of the risks for women who are caught up in the violence of war: “Rape is an integral part of war so they appeal it is a question of power, the dominate woman, let her collapse, sink her in shame. In war, rape is used to undermine the enemy’s morale and destabilize society.” A violence that not only affects those who remain behind in the country that has become a battlefield, but also those who flee and do not immediately find a safe haven, leaving them more alone and vulnerable. Thousands of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine every day are at risk, and the women and children among them are particularly at risk of violence. The Vatican also recalled this today with Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, who issued a clear appeal on the sidelines of the visit to two refugee shelters led by the Diocese of Warsaw: “Ukrainian women and children must be protected from human traffickers when they come from Ukraine to our countries come “.