One of the women – who said her husband was killed by Russian troops on the night of the rape – left her hometown of Brovary to save herself and her teenage son from further pain.
The other woman has remained and is seeking justice from the Ukrainian authorities.
CNN spoke to women in the Brovary neighborhood about their harrowing experience and agreed not to share their real names – or those of their family members – to protect their privacy. They are just two of hundreds of Ukrainians who have reported alleged war crimes.
“There have been 700 reports since April 1,” said Lyudmila Denisova, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, including at least one case in which a young boy was reported to have been raped.
Denisova has the difficult task of gathering evidence of reported war crimes related to the Russian invasion. A hotline has also been set up to provide free psychological support to victims or witnesses of sexual violence, she said.
“It is very difficult. You know that someone has to do it, for our fighters on the front line it is much harder for them. They are in danger every minute. This is my own front line. ”
Rape cases are being investigated by a special prosecutor’s office, Denisova said.
“From the details we have received, we are 100% sure that war crimes have been committed,” said Alexei Bonuk, head of the prosecutor’s office investigating the case.
The women CNN spoke to said their suffering was compounded by local gossip about what had happened to them and the stigma imposed on rape survivors. But they are determined to fight.
The attack
The women were neighbors in a village in Brovary, about an hour’s drive from Kyiv.
Both women are married. Both are in their early 40s. Both say they were targeted by Russian troops.
“We are the youngest women in this village. And they wanted skinny women,” said one of the survivors, who heard the soldiers speak.
“What this son of a bitch did to me was horrible. He forced me to …”
The woman CNN calls Nika is dying. Her eyes down. “I can’t talk about it. I’m ashamed and scared.”
The Russians began deploying Ukrainian troops in Brovary County on March 1st. Nika said she was first searched on March 9 while at home with her husband.
Russian soldiers and their commander came to their home and asked her and her husband to hand over their phones. The troops left after a Russian soldier fired a shot, hitting her home and grazing their commander, she said.
Two of the younger Russian soldiers returned in the dead of night, Nika said. They separated her from her husband, grabbed her by the hood of her coat, and dragged her out of the house and down the street to a neighbor’s house, where another survivor, whom CNN calls Dasha, was sleeping. Dasha Valentina’s husband, daughter and mother also slept at home.
When the Russians arrived and knocked on the door, “They hit so hard they shook everything, even knocked on the windows,” Valentina said.
Dasha’s husband went out to talk to the soldiers, she said, and Nika was outside listening to the men argue.
A moment later, Nika said she heard a cold-blooded murder.
“There was a short conversation. And then there was a sound like a crash! A shot like a firework,” Nika said. My body trembled.
Then she saw Russian soldiers pushing Dasha’s husband’s body out of sight.
The soldiers then took her and Dasha down the street to a house vacated during the invasion, Nika said. She heard the soldiers shouting at each other: Danya and Oleg.
While we were going there, Danya said: “Guess what, Oleg? Look who we’re going to fuck! ”Nika said, apologizing for quoting his curses.
Even after trying to reason with him, Nika said she was raped by Danya at the bottom of the house.
Danya told Nika she was 19, she said.
“I told him I was 41, my younger son is the same age as you. I asked him if he had a girlfriend. He said, “Yes. She’s 17. But I haven’t had sex with her. “
Nika asked, “Why are they doing this to me? He replied that he had not seen a woman in two weeks.”
Anger rises in her voice as she recounts the conversation. “Can you believe it? It’s crazy.”
Escape from bullets and accusations
Nika and Dasha survived the attacks. But another threat soon emerged. The city came under fire during a fierce battle between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
Against the backdrop of the battle, the women fled their captors and said the soldiers were too scared to run long after them.
But escaping from their attackers meant going through an active battle zone.
“Bullets were flying from the forest. I thought, “Oh my God, someone will see me and kill me,” Nika said.
In great danger, the women manage to return home. Dasha had to face the horrors not only of what she had just experienced, but also of the need to mourn the loss of her murdered husband.
As the village remains under Russian occupation, Dasha and Valentina try to dig a grave, but the ground is too frozen. Gathering all her strength, Dasha went to a Russian commander to ask for help in burying her husband, Valentina said.
She said: “Your boys came in the night and killed him. “Help us bury him,” Valentina said.
The Russian commander capitulated, she said, and soldiers helped bury Dasha’s wife in the family’s backyard. However, proper burial could not be discussed while it was under occupation.
To make matters worse, gossip soon spread through the village. Neighbors began accusing the women of being collaborators and receiving special sex services.
“I didn’t cooperate with them. I was afraid of them. This is crazy!” Dasha told CNN, annoyed. “Did they see him?” Right? They didn’t see him. I can also make accusations. That doesn’t make them true. ”
After being a victim twice – rape, then rumors – Nika said, “God sees everything.”
She intends to do everything possible to help prosecutors prove the attack.
“I want you (the soldiers) to be punished by a judge. They have to decide what to do with them: shoot them, kill them, tear them apart. You bastards.”
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