Ukraine war: Govt probing 171 cases of sexual violence committed by Russian troops, says First Lady Zelenska

Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska said on Saturday (March 4) that the country's prosecutor's office was investigating 171 cases of sexual violence committed by Russian troops. Addressing a panel discussion on sexual violence and war crimes, Zelenska said the above figures were official, speculating "we do not know how many suffer in silence, especially in the occupied territories."

"171 cases of sexual violence against Ukrainians are currently being investigated by the Prosecutor General's Office, and this figure is not limited to women, 39 men and 13 minors are among the victims. Among them is a boy. Most importantly, we know about these cases only because these people found the strength to speak. (Thanks to) their strength, the strength of their loved ones. We do not know how many suffer in silence, especially in the occupied territories," she said, the news agency Reuters reported.

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"Verdicts for Russian rapes and other war crimes are needed as a precedent, so that any potential aggressor, any collective rapists in the world knows that such things will not go unpunished. And for those to whom something still seems incomprehensible, who hint towards making concessions to the aggressor. We must liberate our land from the invader not only because we want to return to universally recognised borders," she added.

The First Lady also said everybody would be held accountable for crimes they committed, and atrocities that have seen committed against the brave Ukrainians.

Olena Zelenska has previously accused Moscow of using rape as a weapon of war in her country. In November last year, she claimed that the wives of Russian servicemen encouraged them to rape Ukrainian women.

"Sexual violence is the most cruel, most animalistic way to prove mastership over someone. And for victims of this kind of violence, it is difficult to testify in war times because nobody feels safe", she said during an international conference in London, according to a report by Sky News.

The First Lady's remarks on Saturday come just days after Kyiv's human rights commissioner accused Russians of kidnapping Ukrainian children and selling them for sex. "Telegram channels revealed that Russians are kidnapping Ukrainian children and making sexual videos with them," rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said in a post on Telegram.

Lubinets added that Russians offered $3,315 (250,000 rubbles) for a boy who is an orphan. He posted an excerpt from an exchange on WhatsApp between two people allegedly discussing using a young boy for a child pornography shoot. The human rights commissioner called on Ukraine's police, cyber police and prosecutors to take "appropriate measures to find and punish the guilty.

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