War crimes in Ukraine: Russian snipers sexually assaulted a girl and gang-raped her mother in front of her husband

The government of Ukraine accused two Russian soldiers of sexually assaulting a girl four years old and gang-raped his mother in front of him while they were pointing a gun at him.

According to an article published by Reuters.

According to documents from the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office Reuters had access, the facts are in an avalanche of sex crimes that the Russian soldiers of a Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade committed in four houses in the region of Brovairenext to Kyivin March of last year.

According to investigations, after the failed attempt to Moscow capture Kyivthe soldiers entered Brovaire days later, looting and the use of sexual violence as a deliberate tactic to terrorize the population, Ukrainian prosecutors said.

“They chose the women, they coordinated their actions and their roles beforehand,” prosecutors said, in the 2022 documents that were based on interviews with witnesses and survivors, according to what has been released. Reuters.

Most of the crimes took place after March 13, when soldiers “intoxicated burst into the courtyard of the house where a young family lived”, prosecutors said.

The father was beaten with a metal pot and then forced to kneel while his wife was gang-raped. One of the soldiers told the four-year-old that he would “make a woman out of her” before she was abused, according to the documents.

The family survived, but prosecutors said they are investigating other crimes in the area, including murders during this same period.

The Russian soldiers who coordinated the crime were snipers between the ages of 32 and 28. The eldest is deceased, while the youngest, identified as Yevgeniy Chernoknizhniyis back in Russia according to the files.

The two are among six other suspects charged in the Brovary attacks, marking one of the most thorough investigations into sexual abuse since the invasion began.

But the sniper’s crimes did not stop there, after the attack on the girl and her parents, the two Russian soldiers entered the neighboring house, where an elderly couple lived, whom they beat and Also, They raped a 41-year-old pregnant woman and a 17-year-old boy.

In another place where several families lived, soldiers forced everyone into the kitchen and gang-raped a 15-year-old girl and her mother, prosecutors said, according to what was published by Reuters.

All the victims survived and are receiving medical and psychological assistance.

These cases add to growing reports of systematic sexual abuse by Russian soldiers.

Ukraine’s attorney general said his office is investigating more than 71,000 reports of war crimes received since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops across the border.

Unfortunately, the likelihood of being able to find and punish the Russian criminals who perpetrated these crimes is low and, moreover, the trials would mainly take place in the absence of those indicated.

But there are international efforts to prosecute war crimes, including through the International Penal Court, This means that if Moscow refuses to hand over the defendants, anyone convicted in absentia can be placed on international watch lists, making it difficult for them to travel.

So far, Ukrainian prosecutors have convicted 26 Russians of war crimes, some as prisoners of war, others in absentia, including one for rape.

(With information from Reuters)

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