GENEVA – A UN Human Rights Office report published today says sexual violence has been used against civilians and prisoners of war (POWs) in Ukraine in a shocking pattern of torture, intimidation and coercion since the start of the Russian Federation’s full-scale armed attack on its neighbour more than four years ago.
Some 1,004 cases of sexual violence were documented from 24 February 2022, when Russia’s attack on Ukraine began, through to the end of July this year.
Of these cases, 89 percent were attributed to Russian authorities – including members of the armed forces, the prison service and the national security service. The remaining 11 percent were attributed to Ukrainian authorities.
The 20-page report, entitled Sexual Violence in the Context of the Russian Federation Full-Scale Armed Attack against Ukraine, is based on confidential interviews with hundreds of victims and survivors of sexual violence committed by both parties, and other relevant materials, including court documents and official records.
“I am deeply alarmed by the prevalence of these abhorrent acts documented in our report, and fear that they are almost certainly continuing amid the unceasing violence we are witnessing every day in Ukraine,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
Most of the victims of sexual violence were men, particularly in places of detention, but women and children were also affected, primarily in occupied territory of Ukraine. The violations committed include gang rape, rape, genital mutilation, electric shocks and beatings to the genitals, and other degrading acts of a sexual nature. The youngest documented rape survivor was a four-year-old-girl and the oldest an 82-year-old woman, with both cases perpetrated by Russian authorities.
Many of the men survivors said they were tasered in the genitals using a Soviet-era military field telephone known as a “tapik”. “The application of electric shocks to genitals with a “tapik” or taser was a common form of sexual violence used against Ukrainian POWs and retained medical personnel, with 155 (27 per cent) having endured this form at least once,” says the report.
Individual victims recounted deeply distressing experiences to the UN Human Rights Office. One Ukrainian POW described being raped with a baton, another being forcibly penetrated with cell door keys, and a Ukrainian civilian said he was raped with the handle of a shovel.
One woman recounted that a Russian soldier moved into her home in Zaporizhzhia and proceeded to rape her several times a week for a month, promising to ensure her detained husband would be treated better in exchange.
Another woman said a Russian soldier forced his way into her home in Kherson and would rape her every night. He also repeatedly threatened her with gang rape. In another case, a women described how two Russian soldiers broke into a family home in the Kyiv region in 2022 and gang raped her after they had shot and killed her husband, threatening to shoot her in front of her four-year-old son if she resisted.
Almost half of the violations attributed to Ukrainian authorities against Russian and third-country national prisoners of war comprised threats of sexual violence. The remainder included cases of forced nudity, electric shocks and beatings to the genitals, electric shocks and beatings to the body while nude, sexually degrading treatment, as well as two sexual assaults and two cases of attempted rape.
“Sexual violence is a grave feature of the full-scale armed attack against Ukraine. It must stop immediately, irrespective of the perpetrators. Given the high prevalence of cases attributed to its forces, however, the Russian Federation in particular must take concrete and discernible steps to protect civilians and prisoners of war from all forms of torture, including sexual violence,” said Türk.
“And both Russia and Ukraine must investigate all credible claims of sexual violence – promptly, thoroughly and impartially – and ensure those found responsible are fully brought to justice regardless of rank or affiliation.”
The UN Human Rights Chief also renewed his call on the Russian Federation to immediately, completely and unconditionally cease the use of force against Ukraine and to withdraw all its military forces from Ukrainian territory, in line with the UN Charter and binding international law.
