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A Ukrainian woman speaks to Rudaw on May 4, 2022 about her alleged raping by Russian troops.
DRUZHNAYA, Ukraine - A large number of Ukrainian women have allegedly become victims of rape at the hands of Russian forces in areas that they had briefly overrun near Kyiv, according to the victims and reports from Ukrainian officials and the UN.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a woman in the village of Druzhnya told Rudaw at her house on Wednesday that she was three times raped by Russian soldiers and sometimes at gunpoint in March.
"They [Russian soldiers] broke into our house [in March] ordering water and tea. We did not have water inside, so I went to the courtyard to bring water for them. One of them followed me and he was like 'do you want me forcefully do it with you, or do you understand what I want from you. I will just give you 15 minutes to think about it'," the shattered woman who avoided the camera recounted.
She said she had no option but to nod.
"I panicked a lot and after 15 minutes, I nodded," she said.
Druzhnya in Kyiv Oblast is about 51 kilometers west of the Ukrainian capital city. The village came under the control of the Russian troops during their onslaught in Kyiv. During March, the village had remained under their control before finally retreating and pulling back from the region.
According to data from the Ukrainian government, more than 106 mothers and daughters are reported to have been sexually assaulted and raped in areas that had been controlled by the Russian forces in Kyiv's outlying towns and villages.
Men and boys are also among the alleged victims of rape, according to Ukrainian and UN officials.
“I have received reports, not yet verified … about sexual violence cases against men and boys in Ukraine,” said Pramila Patten, UN special representative on sexual violence in war, at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday, adding that dozens of cases of sexual violence are under investigation.
“[They] only represent the tip of the iceberg”, she said of those victims who have so far come forward.
Cameraman: Ahmed Younus
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