Chilling evidence builds of systematic use of rape as a weapon by Russian troops in Ukraine

Chilling evidence builds of systematic use of rape as a weapon by Russian troops in Ukraine

In a phone call intercepted by Ukrainian security services, a Russian woman is heard telling her soldier partner to rape Ukrainian women amid the war

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Wednesday, April 13, 2022, 03:26 PM IST
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Volunteers load bodies of civilians killed in Bucha onto a truck to be taken to a morgue for investigation, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday, April 12, 2022 | AP

A Russian woman has been heard giving her soldier partner permission to rape Ukrainian locals in a phone call intercepted by Kyiv's security services.

The shocking 30-second audio clip of the conversation was posted to the telegram channel of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on Tuesday.

'Wives of Russian aggressors call on their husbands to rape Ukrainian women,' the agency wrote on Telegram, along with the clip.

'This shocking interception by the SBU reflects the moral values ​​not only of the occupiers but also of their relatives, 80% of whom now support the war in Ukraine,' the agency claimed in its description of the recording.

The audio clip opens with the blue and yellow title: 'SECURITY SERVICE INTERCEPT: Wives of Russian invaders allow their men to rape Ukrainian women.'

A women's voice is then heard: 'So yeah, do it over there,' she says. It then becomes clear what she is agreeing to. 'Ukrainian women there. Rape them. Yeah.

'Don't tell me anything, understand,' she adds with a shy laugh.

A man's voice is then heard. 'Uh-huh,' he says. 'So I should rape and not tell you anything,' he asks, clarifying that the woman is giving him permission.

'Yes, so that I wouldn't know anything,' the women's voice says, before they are both heard laughing this time. 'Why do you ask?' she adds.

'Can I really?' he asks again.

'Yeah, I allow you,' she says, with a giggle. 'Just use protection,' she adds.

The man replies again: 'Ok.'

Release of the audio clip came after Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian troops of carrying out 'hundreds of rapes' including sexual assaults of small children.

Women across Ukraine are grappling with the threat of rape as a weapon of war as growing evidence of sexual violence emerges from areas retaken from retreating Russian forces.

Both Ukraine’s prosecutor general and the International Criminal Court in The Hague have said they will open investigations into reported sexual violence.

UN officials have meanwhile called for more protection for women as more stories of gang rapes, assaults at gunpoint and sexual violence in front of children were collected by investigators.

“The combination of mass displacement with the large presence of conscripts and mercenaries, and the brutality displayed against Ukrainian civilians, has raised all red flags,” said Sima Bahous, the executive director of the United Nations' Women entity.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that Russian soldiers have committed war crimes or sexual assaults during the invasion of Ukraine.

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