Human rights agency informs UN that rape being used as war weapon

A top United Nations official told the Security Council on Monday that the UN is increasingly hearing accounts of rape and sexual abuse in Ukraine, as a Ukrainian human rights group accused Russian troops of using rape as a weapon of war.

President of La Strada-Ukraine Kateryna Cherepakha claimed her organization’s emergency hotlines had received calls accusing Russian soldiers of nine rape instances involving 12 women and girls.

‘This is simply the tip of the iceberg,’ she said via video to the council. ‘We know and witness – and we want you to hear our voices – that Russian invaders in Ukraine are now using violence and rape as a weapon of war.’

Since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Russia has denied attacking civilians on several occasions.

Last week, the United Nations said that UN human rights monitors were investigating charges of sexual abuse by Russian forces, including gang rape and rapes in front of minors, as well as reports that Ukrainian soldiers and civil defence militias were also involved.

A request for comment on claims against Ukrainian military was not immediately returned by Ukraine’s UN delegation.

On Monday, Russia’s deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told the Security Council that Russia ‘does not wage war against the civilian population,’ accusing Ukraine and its allies of ‘a manifest attempt to paint Russian forces as sadists and rapists.’

Sima Bahous, the Executive Director of UN Women, stated that all complaints must be reviewed independently to ensure justice and responsibility.

‘Rape and sexual violence are becoming more common,’ she told the council. ‘The huge relocation, combined with the high pressure outcomes of conscripts and mercenaries, as well as the cruelty shown towards Ukrainian people, has triggered all red lights.’

All sides in the Ukraine war have conscription systems in place, in which young men are legally obligated to serve in the military. Mercenaries have been blamed by both Ukraine and Russia.

Russia claims to be conducting a ‘special military operation’ to bolster separatist declarations of independence in two eastern Ukrainian provinces.