Putin’s troops ‘gang-rape and torture civilians & PoWs and even rape children as young as 4,’ disturbing report finds

A SLEW of “abhorrent” sexual violence cases in Ukraine includes the rape of a four-year-old- girl, a shocking UN report has found. Over 1,000 cases of rape, gang-rape and torture of civilians and PoWs have been recorded in the past four and a half years of war. Putin speaks during an awards ceremony for the workers of Russia’s defence industry Credit: AP Russian troops lead nine men at gunpoint to their headquarters in Bucha where they would be tortured and executed in 2022 Credit: Ukrainian Government Of those, a devastating 89 per cent were attributed to the Russian army, its prison service and security agencies. The findings reveal a “shocking pattern of torture, intimidation as well as coercion.” Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Many of the male survivors said they were tasered in the genitals using a Soviet-era military field telephone known as a “tapik”. At least 155 victims reported having endured this form of torture at least once. While the majority of documented victims are men, particularly those in places of detention, women and young children have been most severely affected in occupied Ukrainian territory. One woman recounted how a Russian soldier moved into her home in Zaporizhzhia where he raped her several times a week for a month. Viktoria, a rape survivor, is seen inside her home on Dzherelna street where war crimes by Russian soldiers were committed on May 4, 2022 in Berestyanka Credit: Getty A Russian soldier patrols a street of Mariupol on April 12, 2022 Credit: Getty In exchange, he told her that her detained husband would be treated better. Another woman said a Russian soldier forced his way into her home in Kherson and would rape her every night. Most read in The Sun He also repeatedly threatened her with gang rape. In another case, a woman described how two Russian soldiers broke into a family home in the Kyiv region in 2022 and gang raped her after they had shot and killed her husband. They threatened to shoot her dead in front of her four-year-old son if she resisted. “Sexual violence is a grave feature of the full-scale armed attack against Ukraine,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. “It must stop immediately, irrespective of the perpetrators. “Given the high prevalence of cases attributed to its forces, Russia in particular must take concrete and discernible steps to protect civilians and prisoners of war from all forms of torture, including sexual violence. “And both Russia and Ukraine must investigate all credible claims of sexual violence – promptly, thoroughly and impartially – and ensure those found responsible are fully brought to justice regardless of rank or affiliation.” The Sun has previously reported on Russia’s barbaric torture camps where soldiers have committed unspeakable atrocities under the guise of war in Ukraine. Comment now