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Two Russian military snipers are accused of raping a Ukrainian woman at gunpoint in front of her husband during the invasion. Photo/REUTERS
KIEV – Two military snipers Russia accused of raping a woman Ukraine at gunpoint in front of her husband. Apart from that, they were also accused of sexually abusing the woman’s daughter, who was only four years old.
According to Ukraine’s prosecution papers seen by Reuters, the crimes were part of allegations of widespread sexual abuse by Moscow soldiers during the invasion.
The perpetrators, according to the prosecution’s dossier, were Russian soldiers from the “15th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade”. All of the sexual assaults, including the rape by two snipers, took place in four homes in the Brovary district, near the Ukrainian capital; Kiev, in March 2022.
Russia’s Defense Ministry did not respond to requests for comment. The telephone number registered to the concerned brigade is out of order.
Two officials at the Samara Garrison, of which the brigade is part, said they could not provide a contact for the unit when contacted by Reuters, with one official saying they were confidential.
According to Ukrainian prosecutors, during Moscow’s failed attempt to seize Kiev following the 24 February 2022 invasion, Russian troops entered Brovary days later, looted and used sexual violence as a deliberate tactic to terrorize residents.
“They select women beforehand, coordinate their actions and roles,” said the prosecutor, whose 2022 document is based on interviews with witnesses and survivors.
“Most of the alleged atrocities occurred on March 13, when soldiers, in a drunken stupor, broke into the courtyard of a house where a young family lived,” the prosecutor continued.
