Russian troops and Ukrainian soldiers in Kherson, Ukraine: One rogue, one rapist, and two girls in a village of Kyiv

Treading muddy streets, past homes damaged by artillery strikes, they look for those left behind. The two men traveled from Kyiv to form a specialized unit.

Russian troops were in the area until early October. Burnt-out cars litter the fields. The letter ‘Z’ – a symbol used by Russian forces – marks the walls.

The scars from war can be seen here. Russia has used sexual violence as a “weapon of war” – a deliberate “military strategy” – in its conquest of Ukraine, United Nations investigators have said. They have even relayed allegations of Russian soldiers carrying Viagra.

In two weeks of work in the Kherson region, the team from Kyiv has documented six allegations of sexual assault. The real number is almost certainly much higher, they say.

She says that they walked around the rooms. The rapist came in here, and one of them stayed there. He came in, walked a little bit around the room and here in this place, he started groping me.”

She says he pinned her against the wardrobe and ripped her clothes. She says she was crying as she begged him to stop. “The only thought I had was to stay alive.”

She recalls that he warned her not to tell anyone. She cried as she said that she didn’t tell her husband right away. “But I told my cousin, and my husband overheard. He said, ‘You should have told me the truth, but you kept silent.’”

She was widowed more than 30 years ago – she says her husband died in a motorcycle accident – and her son joined the military soon after Russia’s invasion on February 24. She decided to leave, she says, about three months after Russian troops occupied her village.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/02/europe/russia-ukraine-kherson-sexual-violence-intl/index.html

Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia and Ukraine: The sexual violence of a village in the Kherson hamlet of Kyiv

“His commander found the head of his unit. He told me that he had punished him severely and that the most severe punishment was on the way. Like shooting. The commander asked me, ‘Do you mind this?’ I said, ‘I don’t mind, I wish all of them will be shot.’”

The prosecutor and officer of the law are confronted with the horrors of their occupation when they look for evidence of sexual crimes.

The village was behind Russian lines, but never directly occupied. Those gathered round shout that they’ve been abandoned for months, with no help from either Russia or Ukraine.

A man in a crowd tells investigators that he was held by Russians and then had a mock execution. It’s difficult to hear, tales of torture are common here but they don’t focus on that today.

Despite the dissatisfaction of these villagers, Ukraine’s counteroffensive in this part of the country has buoyed public hopes that victory might actually be possible – or at least that Kyiv might liberate key Russian-held cities, such as Kherson.

Starting slowly at the end of the summer, and then in large measure at the beginning of October, Ukrainian forces have regained hundreds of square miles of territory that Russia held since the early days of its full-scale invasion.

A mother and her daughter drove down one of the roads that has been hit by shelling to find out if there are any sexual crimes in their hamlet.

She returned months after the Ukrainian military liberated her village. She had reduced her roof to the rafters.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/02/europe/russia-ukraine-kherson-sexual-violence-intl/index.html

Contributions of the Kompatriots to Ukraine’s First Military Uniform for Pregnant Women, Unpacking, and Unloading

She says that she doesn’t know where to put it so the ceiling won’t fall. I won’t suffer if it fall and kill me. I would love to see my son again.

Many of the allegations will be difficult to prove, and many do not have a suspect. For now, the team files its reports, and its investigators continue their work, hoping to be able to file charges in the future.

They are about to unpack Ukraine’s first ever military uniform for pregnant women, which they recently commissioned after a pregnant sniper got in touch.

The young couple, both TV journalists before the war started, are now fully dedicated to their independent NGO, “Zemlyachki,” or “Compatriots,” which procures vital items for women in the armed forces.

The servicewomen needed more than uniforms. The demand is great for everything from smaller boots to lighter plates for bulletproof vests.

Body armor Plates, helmets and boots are imported from countries as far away as Sweden and Macedonia. They are struggling with the procurement of items like sleeping bags and thermal clothing for comfort as winter sets in.

So far they’ve given equipment worth $1 million and helped more than 3000 women. He tells CNN that if they are on the front line, they should do it in minimum comfort.

“We are doing this to help our government,” Kolesnyk says, not to compete with it. Their hub is filled with cardboard boxes which were paid for from grants and Crowdfunded.

A female prisoner in the army: Helping a wounded soldier through psychological support, like Alina Panina, who has been in captivity since October 17

“For a man, it’s hard to understand that you can’t go there, and your sister is there. So, I’m trying to do my best here to help not only my family, but the whole army,” he says.

A young woman who gave only her first name because of security reasons walks in to pick up her gear before she heads out on her next assignment. She joined the army in March and is now working for the intelligence unit.

She says that people who understand that they are tired of wearing clothes that are three sizes too big are valuable. We wore tracksuits and sneakers and didn’t have helmets. Now we feel that we are humans.”

She giggles as she laces up her new boots with impeccable long fingernails. Before they hug goodbye, Drahanyuk hands Roksolana a copy of “The Choice,” the best-selling memoir by Holocaust survivor and psychologist Edith Eger. This can be used to help process trauma. Zemlyachki has also formed partnerships with military psychologists to whom women in combat can reach out.

Other women, such as 25-year-old Alina Panina, are receiving psychological support through the Ukrainian military. A border guard with a canine unit, Panina spent five months in captivity at the infamous Olenivka prison in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region after leaving the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

She was finally released on October 17 as part of an all-female prisoner exchange with Russia and went into mandatory rehabilitation at a military hospital, under whose care she remains.

Panina was not prepared for her captivity, and they discussed it together with other women prisoners.

Her partner is up in the air. He is also a border guard who is still in captivity. Panina says that she knows he is alive, but she doesn’t know where he is.