During their invasion, the Russians use an extremely inhuman weapon: they systematically rape women, but also men and children. In a report by the “Rundschau”, which will be broadcast on SRF on Wednesday at 8:05 p.m., victims report on the worst hours of their lives.
On her birthday, 42-year-old Victoria was picked up by Russians at her home near Kyiv and taken to her neighbor’s house. She says: “They shot him before my eyes. Then they took his wife and I to an empty house. They raped us there.”
Russian (19) raped her: “He forced me to do ugly things”(01:41)
The 21-year-old Ilya from Kramatorsk near Donetsk was also sexually abused. When the Russians found photos of a pro-Ukrainian demonstration on his mobile phone, they beat him and drugged him with chloroform. Ilya: «When I came to, I was in excruciating pain. I was lying naked on a table and they raped me.”
Victoria and Ilja are among the few victims who talk about their rape. According to the “Rundschau”, the United Nations High Commission is currently dealing with 124 sexual crimes in Ukraine. It might just be the tip of the iceberg.
«Clear Genocide»
Rape is part of the war tactics of the Russians and their allied fighters. Lyudmila Denisova (61), who was Commissioner for Human Rights in Ukraine until the end of May, said in an interview with Blick: “The background is that you want to make it impossible for women to ever be able or want to have children again. This is clear genocide. The soldiers are relying on Putin’s orders to destroy the entire country.”
Denisova dismissed
Lyudmila Denisova was dismissed by the Ukrainian parliament on May 31. According to Pavlo Frolov, a member of the Rada, in her talks with the media she referred too much to the numerous details of “unnatural sexual crimes” and child sexual abuse. However, these have not yet been adequately documented. Such information “only harmed Ukraine and distracted the world media from the real needs of Ukraine.”
Frolow wrote that she had “withdrawn from the organization of humanitarian corridors and the exchange of prisoners” and had spent a lot of time abroad since the beginning of the war. That is why trust in Denisova has been lost.
Lyudmila Denisova was dismissed by the Ukrainian parliament on May 31. According to Pavlo Frolov, a member of the Rada, in her talks with the media she referred too much to the numerous details of “unnatural sexual crimes” and child sexual abuse. However, these have not yet been adequately documented. Such information “only harmed Ukraine and distracted the world media from the real needs of Ukraine.”
Frolow wrote that she had “withdrawn from the organization of humanitarian corridors and the exchange of prisoners” and had spent a lot of time abroad since the beginning of the war. That is why trust in Denisova has been lost.
The Ukrainian historian Marta Havryshko (37) also deals with sexual violence in wars. When the Russians invaded the country, she was writing a book about sexual crimes during the Holocaust in Ukraine. Across from Blick she says: “The fear of being raped was the main reason I fled.” She currently lives in Switzerland, where she can continue her research at the University of Basel thanks to a special program of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Women cut their hair
According to Havryshko, the abuse mostly takes place in public – in front of parents and relatives. “They tie up the mother and force her to watch her children being raped.” In this way, the invaders inflicted heavy guilt on families and sometimes entire communities for not being able to help their loved ones. “Such humiliations reverberate throughout life,” says Havryshko.
To protect themselves, many women would hide, deliberately dress badly and get dirty. “There are also those who cut their hair to look unattractive,” says Havryshko.
Men are feminized
The goal in raping men is to feminize them and deprive them of masculinity. Havryshko: “It’s a message that says: We treat you like women, you have no power and you can’t stop us.” After the outbreak of the war in Donbass in 2014, men were also castrated, but there have been no confirmed cases since the invasion on February 24 this year.
Many rape victims remain silent because sexual abuse is a disgrace and because they are afraid of being abandoned by their husbands. For this reason, Havryshko estimates, the actual number of victims is massively higher than that of the cases currently being treated.
The “morning after pill”
To help rape victims, the historian calls for easy access to medical and psychological help. The refugees in Switzerland also needed special care in this context. “They must also be able to terminate pregnancies caused by rape.”
Victoria and Ilya dared to report crimes against them to the authorities. The procedures are ongoing. Victoria says in the “Rundschau”: “I wish I could forget all that someday.” This won’t be easy. The psychological traces can hardly be wiped away again. This is exactly what the invaders want.
