russia’s top military brass endorses wartime sexual violence, Kateryna Levchenko says

russia’s top military leadership encourages acts of sexual violence by its troops. It even rewards perpetrators with the country’s highest honors, according to Kateryna Levchenko, Ukraine’s Government Commissioner for Gender Policy.

Speaking at a briefing hosted by Media Center Ukraine, Levchenko said Ukraine is working to build a strong legal case to prove that sexual violence against civilians and prisoners of war by russian forces is not only widespread but also systematic, a necessary step to have russia officially recognized at the United Nations as a state that commits sexual violence in conflict.

“We must prove the facts of numerous cases of conflict-related sexual violence,” Levchenko said. “It is important for us to cooperate with the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, which tracks such incidents. This is undoubtedly the responsibility of law enforcement and international organizations documenting these crimes.”

She underscored that establishing a pattern of systemic abuse is just as critical.

“Sexual crimes committed against Ukrainians are supported at the highest levels of russia’s military leadership,” Levchenko said. “After russian forces retreated from the Kyiv region and returned to russia, some were awarded the honorary title of ‘guardsmen’, a clear indication that these crimes were committed with the consent of the top command.”

Levchenko also stressed the importance of demonstrating that such crimes have been occurring since the beginning of russia’s aggression in 2014, not only since the full-scale invasion in 2022.

While she acknowledged that it is still unclear whether russia will be added to the UN’s “list of shame”, a designation for parties committing conflict-related sexual violence, she said Ukraine must do everything in its power to hold russia accountable.

Read more: https://mediacenter.org.ua/news