Russia uses rape and sexual violence as a strategic weapon of war for territorial control in Ukraine.
This is the accusation that was repeatedly heard this Monday in the Security Council of the United Nations (UN). Until June 3, the UN Human Rights office received 124 allegations related to this conflict on sexual violence, reported Pramila Patten, special envoy of the secretary general. Of these cases, 97 victims were women and girls, 19 men and boys, and one of unknown sex. Verification of all these complaints is ongoing, she noted.
In his presentation to the 15 members of the council, plus a group of seven guests – among which, as usual, was Ukraine – and the participation of Charles Michel, president of the European Council, Patten warned of the growing number of accusations of this type over a hundred days of war.
“From our experience of conflicts around the world, we know that sexual violence is the most systematic and massively reported violation, and the information we have in Ukraine only represents the tip of the iceberg,” he stressed.
“If we wait for stronger data and statistics, it will always be too late,” he urged in his appearance. As he found out, the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country “is turning into a human trafficking crisis.”
He lamented that “there is a gap between the UN resolutions aimed at preventing rape and other sexual attacks and the reality on the ground for the most vulnerable, women and children,” he stressed.
What followed was the usual verbal ping-pong, except that the Russian ambassador, Vasili Nebenzia, slammed the door.
He stormed out that Charles Michel accused Moscow of using the supply chain as “a stealth missile against developing countries” by sparking a global hunger crisis. The European representative also blamed Russian troops for war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially for reports of sexual violence, describing their conduct as “a tactic of torture, terror and repression.”
Nebenzia, who in her previous speech described these accusations as false, later said that “she could not continue there because of Michel’s lies.” In full speech, and seeing what was happening, the European told him: “You can leave the room, maybe it’s easier than listening to the truth.”
