Forensic doctors conducting post-mortem examinations of bodies in mass graves north of Kyiv say they have found evidence that some women were raped before being killed by Russian forces.
“We already have several cases suggesting that these women were raped before they were shot,” said Vladislav Perovsky, a Ukrainian forensic doctor who, with a team of forensic doctors, performed dozens of autopsies on residents of Bucha, Irpin and Borodyanka. who died during the month-long occupation of the region by Russia.
“We can’t give more details because my colleagues are still collecting data and we still have hundreds of bodies to study,” he said.
Perovski’s team inspects about 15 bodies a day, many of them mutilated. “There are a lot of burnt bodies and severely disfigured bodies that are simply impossible to identify,” he said. “The face can be torn to pieces, you can’t put it back together, sometimes there is no head at all.”
He said the bodies of some of the women examined had shown signs that the victims had been killed by automatic fire, with more than six bullet holes in their backs.
Oleh Tkalenko, a senior prosecutor for the Kyiv region, said details of the alleged rapes had been forwarded to his office, which is investigating circumstances such as the whereabouts and age of the victims.
“Rape cases are a very delicate and sensitive issue,” Tkalenko said. “Forensic doctors have a specific task to check the genitals of women victims and look for signs of rape.
A foreign investigator working north of Kyiv, who asked to remain anonymous, said some bodies “are in such poor condition that it is not easy to find traces of rape and sexual harassment.” But we are gathering evidence in several cases of women we believe were raped before they were killed.
After the withdrawal of Russian troops from the cities and suburbs around the capital, dozens of women told police, the media and human rights organizations about the atrocities they said they had suffered at the hands of Russian soldiers. Investigators have heard testimony about gang rapes, gun attacks and rapes in front of children.
Ukraine’s Commissioner for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova has officially documented the cases of 25 women who were held in a basement and systematically raped in Bucha, a town north of Kyiv that is now synonymous with Russian war crimes. Authorities warned that these cases could be the tip of the iceberg and accused Russian troops of using rape as a tool for war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement last week that hundreds of women had been raped by Russian soldiers. Ukrainian authorities declined to give exact figures or details about where the rapes took place or the age of the victims.
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians during the war, although there is growing evidence to the contrary.
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Tkalenko said women are reluctant to report sexual violence to police because they believe the perpetrators will not be caught. Instead, they contacted psychologists and doctors for help.
“Psychologists work with rape victims and then with detectives,” Tkalenko said. “Women are very reserved, and information about rape cases is more closed.
Much of the evidence gathered by Ukrainian prosecutors will soon be handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has launched an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
A volunteer traveling to the liberated areas north of Kyiv on April 1st to help evacuate residents said he met three naked women who came out of houses and basements. One was severely beaten and taken away by ambulance, they said. The volunteer said he had also witnessed about 10 other women testifying to police that they had been raped.
“It usually happens that rape victims initially want to tell their story, but then leave and only return months later to speak,” the man said.
Tkalenko says that when prosecutors hear about cases of rape, they turn to the victims individually and try to see if they will file a declaration. “People are ashamed to talk about rape,” he said.
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