According to incriminating evidence gathered by the UN, Russian troops are using rape as a weapon of war against Ukrainians.
Pramila Patten, the United Nations’ special envoy on sexual assault, stated that she has confirmed more than 100 cases of rape against Ukrainians during the eight-month conflict, however the actual number is very certainly higher.
She stated that the victims ranged in age from four to 82 years old and were primarily of women and children, as well as a few men and young boys.
Patten stated that survivors informed her about genital mutilations and soldiers ‘armed with Viagra’ as part of an apparent “military campaign” to dehumanize individuals.
She stated, “When women are imprisoned for days and raped, when you begin to rape little boys and men, when you see a series of genital mutilations, and when you hear women testify about Russian soldiers supplied with Viagra, it is clearly a military strategy.”
And when the victims report what was said during the rapes, it is evidently an attempt to dehumanize them.
Since Russia’s invasion in February, the United Nations has confirmed “more than a hundred incidences” of rape or sexual assault in Ukraine, Patten added, referring to a UN report released in late September.
She stated that the investigation “proved crimes against humanity committed by Russian forces” and that according to accumulated testimony, the victims of sexual violence ranged in age from four to eighty-two years old.
She noted that the victims are predominantly women and girls, but also males and boys. However, “documented cases represent simply the top of the iceberg.”
‘It is extremely difficult to obtain accurate figures during an ongoing war, and the numbers will never reflect reality because sexual violence is a silent crime,’ she said.
Putin had authorized a days-long’special military operation’ to overthrow the Ukrainian government when Russia invaded the country in February.
Now, though, he is embroiled in an eight-month conflict that is likely to continue for at least a few more months, and he has suffered enormous casualties.
Nearly all observers underestimated the ferocity of Ukrainian resistance, which has been fueled by atrocities committed by Russian forces in occupied territories.
After Putin’s troops retreated from areas surrounding the Ukrainian capital in April, mass graves containing the remains of hundreds of civilians were discovered.
Survivors of the occupation described how Russian soldiers interrogated and tortured anyone suspected of cooperating with the government or military; some were finally executed.
Others described soldiers entering their homes, beating or raping them, stealing from them, and then fleeing when Ukrainian forces neared.
Kyiv contends that Moscow is engaged in a genocide aimed at eradicating their national identity by murdering innocents, deporting people to Russia, and committing systematic rapes.
Putin denies that his military intentionally targets civilians.