A 1-year-old Ukrainian boy is presumed dead after being raped by Russian soldiers in a village near Kharkiv, according to the Ukrainian human rights inspector. There are more and more allegations that Russian soldiers raping the youngest and most vulnerable victims of war is the latest disturbing turn in a modern war defined by ancient brutality.
The dead boy was among dozens of alleged child rape victims, including two 10-year-old boys, 9-year-old triplets, a 2-year-old girl raped by two Russian soldiers and a 9-year-old baby. months of age were abused. a candlestick in front of its mother, theo Ukraine Commissioner for Human Rights, Lyudmyla Denisova.
Ukraine’s main Psychological Helpline says it receives calls regarding widespread rape — children, women and men — every day.
“In just one hour, 10 reports of the rape of [Russian] The occupiers, including 8 children, were received from the newly liberated villages in the Kharkiv region “, Denisova posted on her Facebook page. “Yesterday – 56 reports.”
Rape has long been a weapon of war, but it is often perpetrated against women and girls. In Syria, human rights groups say women and girls have been raped with the aim of fertilizing them to add an insult to the wound. “I have received reports, unverified… about incidents of sexual violence [involving] Pramila Patten, the United Nations special representative on sexual violence in conflict, told a news conference in Kyiv this week. “It’s hard for women and girls to report [rape] because of stigma among other reasons, but it is often even harder for men and boys to report… We must create a safe space for all victims to report cases sexual violence. “
According to Denisova, who reported that two men aged 67 and 78 were among the rape victims.
Some of the reports were first revealed by Ukrainian journalist Iryna Matviyishyn, who reported from areas liberated from Russian forces. She submitted her findings to the Parliament of Ukraine, which published them in a report as part of a war crimes record. “This is a very small part of the territory that has been liberated from the Russians, compared to the towns, villages and cities that are still occupied,” Denisova said in the report. “We can only imagine the number of such atrocities in Kherson, Melitopol, Mariupol, Berdyansk and others.”
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace says increasing brutality is Russian President Putin’s last resort, after Russia’s technology, intelligence and leadership have largely failed to pose a clear challenge. is much easier. “If you win your war by killing, killing, raping, bombing civilian territories, violating all human rights, all Geneva Conventions, corruption, and that becomes success. part winning, the message sent around the world to other adversaries around the world is extremely dangerous,” said Wallace at the European Defense conference in London this week. “That you don’t have to have all the best kits or the best training or the right rules of law, you just have to be able to be more brutal than others and be more prepared to destroy everything on your way. That is why it is important for the international community, and should be, that if Putin succeeds in Ukraine, watch out.”
