Ukraine accuses a Russian soldier identified by the Kyiv Independent as raping a woman

On October 31, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine charged Russian soldier Mykola Senenko with raping a woman in the Kherson region in 2022.

The Kyiv Independent in June identified two Russian soldiers who were involved in the rape of two women during the occupation of Kyiv and Kherson regions in March 2022, one of whom was Senenko.

The findings served as the basis for the Kyiv Independent documentary on Russian sexual violence in occupied parts of Ukraine – He came back — available in English and Ukrainian.

Synenko, who was recruited from the occupied parts of Donetsk Oblast, was deployed with the Russian 109th Motorized Rifle Regiment to the occupied parts of Kherson Oblast in early 2022.

After interviewing local residents and officials at the scene, the Kyiv Independent found that Senenko raped a woman in Krasnivka, Kherson region. The conclusions were sent to the prosecutor’s office.

In April, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, told the UN Security Council that Russia was using sexual violence as a weapon against civilians and prisoners of war.

At that time, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine has record nearly 300 cases of sexual violence by Russian forces since the beginning of the year full scale war.

Citing the testimonies of people released from Russian captivity, Kyslytsya said that more than 50 percent of the detainees suffered torturerape or other forms of sexual violence.

He also mentioned the documented crimes of the Attorney General, whose victims include 188 women, 102 men and 15 minors.

The recorded numbers are probably undercounted, Kyslytsya said.

“The survivors cannot wait until the war is over,” he said. “They need support and justice now.” Ukraine has launched a pilot program to provide emergency financial reparations to victims of sexual violence, Kyslytsya said.

The program is supported by Global Survivors Fundwhich advocates for victims of conflict-related sexual assaults.