Ukraine opens first investigation into claims of rape against Russian soldiers

Ukrainian officials say they are investigating claims that Russian soldiers killed a woman’s husband and then repeatedly raped her in a village outside Kyiv, according to reports.

“I cried out, where is my husband, then I looked outside and I saw him on the ground by the gate. This younger guy pulled gun to my head and said: ‘I shot your husband because he’s a Nazi,'” the woman, who used the pseudonym Natalya, told The Times of London in an article published Monday.

The woman said she was raped by the man who killed her husband and another soldier.

“He told me to take my clothes off. Then they both raped me one after the other. They didn’t care that my son was in the boiler room crying. They told me to go shut him up and come back,” she told the British paper. 

Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, said in a Facebook post last week that a Russian soldier had killed an unarmed civilian and then repeatedly raped his wife, according to The New York Times. The incident reportedly took place on March 9.

The soldier is currently wanted for arrest “on suspicion of violation of the laws and customs of war,” the report added. 

This is the first investigation into claims of rape by Russian soldiers since Moscow invaded Ukraine more than a month ago.

When asked at a press briefing about the investigation, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “We do not trust the information about the rape of a woman at all. This is a lie.” 

“We do not trust the Ukrainian attorney general’s office. The Russian troops do not strike or shoot civilians. Russian troops help civilians,” Peskov said.

Ukrainian Minister of Parliament Maria Mezentseva told Sky News on Monday that cases like Natalya’s need to be recorded, as “justice has to prevail.” 

Mezentseva added that there are many more victims in similar circumstances who have not yet been made public by the prosecutor general.

This is not the first time Ukraine has accused Russian soldiers of committing atrocities. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba previously said Russian soldiers were committing rape in Ukrainian cities, using the allegations to criticize the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Kuleba said at an event in London earlier this month, “When bombs fall on your cities, when soldiers rape women in the occupied cities — and we have numerous cases of, unfortunately, when Russian soldiers rape women in Ukrainian cities — it’s difficult, of course, to speak about the efficiency of international law,” Reuters reported.