
A special envoy of the United Nations has accused Russia of using rape and sexual assaultas part of their “military strategy” in the ongoing Ukraine invasion.
Speaking to AFP, UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, backed her claims by citing a UN report released in late September.
The report released by a panel of UN experts recently verified “more than a hundred cases” of rape or sexual assault incidents in Ukraine since February—when Russia launched its invasion.
Patten claimed that the number of victims is likely to be higher than official figures saying that sexual crimes are often “under-reported”.
“When you hear women testify about Russian soldiers equipped with Viagra, it’s clearly a military strategy,” Pramila Patten, UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, said in an interview with AFP on Thursday.
She said that the report "confirmed crimes against humanity committed by the Russian forces, and according to the gathered testimonies, the age of the victims of sexual violence ranges from four to 82-year-old."
“There are many cases of sexual violence against children who are raped, tortured and sequestered,” Patten said.
“I have not stopped since February to emphasize the importance of having credible investigations into these cases of violence,” she added.
Her claims lend credence to the repeated assertions made by the Ukrainian politicians who spoke of numerous cases of sexual violence since Putin declared war.
In June, Ukraine’s deputy minister of internal affairs Kateryna Pavlichenko alleged that police received around 50 complaints of sexual crimes committed by Russian soldiers.
Ukrainian officials are also probing rape allegations in the Kharkiv region after Ukrainian forces recently recaptured territory there.
(With inputs from agencies)
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