Ukraine has identified 208 victims of sexual violence by Russian troops since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office announced on June 19.
One hundred and forty of the registered cases were against women and another 13 against minors, according to the attorney general. The bureau also noted that the true number of victims is likely much higher.
Attorney General Andrey Kostin, along with EU Ambassador for Gender Equality and Diversity Stella Ronner-Grubacic, spoke with several women victims of sexual violence during the Russian occupation.
“The systematic use of sexual violence as a weapon of war is one of the patterns of mass crimes against civilians committed by Russian troops in Ukraine,” Kostin said at the June 19 meeting.
“We also consider conflict-related sexual violence as an element of genocide,” he added.
Kostin also noted that a special unit has been created within the Attorney General’s office to investigate and prosecute crimes of sexual violence. As part of this effort, the office will provide teams of psychologists to help victims of sexual violence.
A group of investigators recently traveled to Sumy Oblast in northeastern Ukraine, where they discovered that Russian forces had set up a torture chamber at a train station in a settlement during the occupation, the attorney general said, adding that one of the methods of torture was sexual violence.
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