Reports Increase About Russian Troops Sexually Abusing Ukrainian Women, Shooting Civilians Hiding in Basements

Last week, Ukraine's prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, revealed in a Facebook post that Russian troops had slain an unarmed man and then raped his wife repeatedly. The White House expressed worry over new claims of sexual abuse in Ukraine a few days later.

Then on Monday night, the woman's horrifying testimony was reported in The Times of London. She informed a reporter, using the alias Natalya, that she was at her house in a town near Kyiv, Ukraine's capital when she heard footsteps and heard a gun. The husband was found dead outside her front door moments later, and two Russian troops stood by her side, one with a pistol to her head.

Russia Refutes Allegations That Russian Troops Sexually Abuse Women

Dmitri S. Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, dismissed Venediktova's claim, telling reporters in Moscow last week that "we don't believe it at all." Venediktova said that a Russian soldier is wanted for arrest on suspicion of violating the rules and customs of war.

Since Russia's invasion began on February 24, Ukrainian officials claim that several incidences of rape and sexual assault have occurred throughout the nation. On Sunday, Maria Mezentseva, a Ukrainian member of parliament, told Sky News about the woman's story and that there were many more victims.

She didn't go into detail about how she found out about the other attacks or how she found out about them, but she said she expected them would surface once the victims were ready to talk.

Rape and other types of sexual abuse have long been associated with armed conflicts, and they can be considered war crimes and crimes against humanity. In past wars, Russian military and Moscow-backed armed groups have been accused of sexual abuse, most notably with captives in eastern Ukraine, New York Times reported.

Ukraine Official Confirms Russian Troops Commit in Sexual Violence

On Thursday, Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko informed the media that there were allegations of Russian forces sexually assaulting elderly people on the outskirts of Kyiv who were unable to evacuate when Russian equipment came into their cities. President Volodymyr Zelensky allowed Vasylenko and four other female MPs special permission to leave Ukraine during the fighting.

The minister asked for a special tribunal to investigate and punish Russian officials for their troops' actions, claiming that international law is the only instrument of civilization and that, in the end, all those who made this conflict possible be brought to account.

Ukrainian women are allegedly being sexually assaulted by the invaders, according to claims made after a video surfaced showing a Russian soldier seized by Ukrainian forces with a stack of condoms. The video was shared on the 'Find Your Own' website's official telegram channel, an effort launched by Ukraine's interior ministry to allow Russian families to identify slain, injured, and detained servicemen.

Dmitrii Alekseevich Paramoshkin, a Russian soldier, is shown laying on the ground while his Ukrainian captors question him and grab his identification. When the soldier from St. Petersburg opened his pockets, a set of what seemed to be condoms in gold wrapping fell to the ground, sparking suspicions that he was about to abuse Ukrainian citizens.

In late February, Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, stated that the ministry had established a humanitarian project to assist Russians in locating family members who had been dispatched to fight in Ukraine, according to Daily Mail.