CNN: Russians are increasingly raping Ukrainian men on occupied territories

In the context of the full-scale war, sexual violence perpetrated by the Russian military has become commonplace as part of the terror unleashed against Ukrainians living in temporarily occupied territories.

The Russians’ victims include both men and women. Furthermore, the former are increasingly targeted for rape. This is the conclusion made by CNN journalists who travelled to Kyiv to speak with prosecutors and victims of such crimes.

According to Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General, Russian military personnel compel men to expose their own bodies, mutilate their genitals, rape them, and apply electric current to their genitals.

Furthermore, Ukrainian law enforcement personnel documented attempted and actual rapes with batons, a pipe, a bottle, a shovel handle, a stick, and a pen.

Roman Chernenko, a 29-year-old Ukrainian intelligence officer, was held captive for seven months. He was tormented three times every day for four months.

"They laughed when they tortured me … they told me that my mother was being f**ked by Chechens. They took me to be shot twice, they threatened me with rape," the soldier told CNN.

Chernenko was released as part of a prisoner swap in January 2024, although he is still suffering from the trauma. The soldier says that the thoughts of his sweetheart and mother gave him the fortitude to withstand the capture.

According to Ukrainian authorities investigating allegations of sexual abuse in the context of the war, all evidence suggests that this is a purposeful technique, part of Russia's behaviour in Ukraine.

"It’s in every region that was under occupation. Everywhere that Russian troops were located, we’re seeing cases of sexual violence and gender-based violence. The bottom line is that it looks like it is Russian policy," said Anna Sosonska, Prosecutor and Acting Head of the Department for Combating Sexual Violence.

Anna Mykytenko, Head of the Global Rights Compliance (GRC) international legal non-profit organisation, added that survivors of violence claim that the occupiers called such actions "punishment."

"In several villages in the south we heard witnesses and survivors say that the Russian servicemen came in, occupied the village, and then looked specifically for the wives of Ukrainian soldiers, or their mothers or sisters,"  Mykytenko said.

The Office of the Ukrainian Ombudsman declared that it holds the Russian military, the Ministry of Defence, and the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia responsible for what is happening in prisons where Ukrainian soldiers are detained, tortured, and raped.

Finding the offenders is tough, but possible, the Prosecutor General’s Office asserts. As of the beginning of May, 42 Russian officers were suspected, 19 indictments against 28 persons had been filed, and five people had been found guilty. All trials took place in absentia.

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