A Ukrainian MP today said they will “not be silent” about the horror of rapes being committed against women by Russian soldiers.
Maria Mezentseva recounted allegations that a Ukrainian woman was raped by soldiers in front of her young child after they had killed her husband.
She said while that case had been publicly talked about, there were “many more victims” who will need support in the future.
Mezentseva said details of such incidents must be recorded as they happen because “justice has to prevail”.
She told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “There is one case which was very widely discussed recently because it’s been recorded and proceeded with [by] the prosecutor’s office, and we’re not going into details, but it’s quite a scary scene when a civilian was shot dead in his house in a small town next to Kyiv.
“His wife was – I’m sorry but I have to say it – raped several times in front of her underage child.”
Mezentseva, who was speaking from western Ukraine, said the country could benefit from the experience of other countries in how to help victims in the aftermath of war.
She said: “There are many more victims rather than just this one case which has been made public by the prosecutor general.
“And of course, we are expecting many more of them, which will be public once victims will be ready to talk about that.”
She insisted: “We will definitely not be silent.”
The MP also said there had been two incidents reported in the past week where Russian soldiers had been accused of shooting at civilians queuing for humanitarian aid.