Russian soldier captured in Ukraine carrying large stash of condoms
Russian soldiers 'are raping women and shooting civilians hiding in their basements', evacuee from Ukrainian city claims
A woman who escaped from the decimated Ukrainian town of Irpin out the outskirts of Kyiv has accused Russian soldiers of raping women and shooting innocent civilians.
Anastasia Taran, a 30-year-old from Enerhodar who was working as a waitress in Irpin prior to the Russian invasion, claimed that conditions in the Russian-occupied town are like 'hell' and alleged the invaders engaged in horrific treatment of locals
'Irpin is Hell. There are plenty of Russian soldiers out there who just shoot people who enter private homes and, at best, just kick people out of their homes,' Anastasia told Ukrainian outlet Euromaidan Press.
'They rape women and the dead are just being dumped.'
It is the latest in a string of rape claims levied against Kremlin troops by Ukrainian refugees and government officials alike since the invasion began, with Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba and opposition MP Lesia Vasylenko both citing reports of Russian soldiers sexually abusing helpless civilians.
It comes as footage emerged of a Russian soldier who appeared to be in possession of a stack of condoms as he was captured by Ukrainians.
Located just 15 miles from the centre of Kyiv, the town of Irpin has been devastated by Russian bombing campaigns for weeks.
Many of the town's inhabitants have fled, but many more remain trapped after the town's bridges were blown up while dozens of other civilians were killed as they attempted to escape.
Anastasia, who is now located in the Western city of Lviv, said she managed to escape Irpin with her husband, but they could only take their passports, personal documents and their three cats.
'I am afraid of silence because you are constantly expecting something bad from it. I still dread going outside - I always look for shelter,' she said, explaining that she was nearly caught up in a Russian mortar attack which landed a mere 50 metres away from where civilians were running.
Anastasia's claims that Russian soldiers had raped women in Irpin and shot defenceless civilians echo the accusations made by a resident of Kherson, the first major city to be occupied by Vladimir Putin's troops in the south of Ukraine.
Svetlana Zorina, 27, told CNN earlier this month that she had heard multiple accounts from personal contacts that young women were being raped on the streets of Kherson.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian MP Vasylenko on Thursday told journalists in a press briefing in the UK that there were reports of Russian troops on the outskirts of Kyiv sexually abusing senior citizens who were unable to flee as Russian armour descended on their towns.
Vasylenko is one of four female MPs even special dispensation to leave Ukraine by President Volodymyr Zelensky amid the conflict.
Ms Vasylenko said they were witnessing atrocities 'against the most vulnerable of the vulnerable', before declaring: 'these women are usually the ones who were unable to get out.
'We're talking about senior citizens of Ukraine. It's an extremely painful topic for us to take up, but unfortunately it's still the very beginning of the atrocities that will go on.
'Putin's army is committing war crimes, and crimes against humanity.'
Ukraine's foreign minister Kuleba told a briefing at Chatham House earlier this month: 'We have numerous cases of, unfortunately, when Russian soldiers rape women in the Ukrainian cities.'
The minister called for a special tribunal to investigate and punish the Russian authorities for the conduct of their troops, saying that international law 'is the only tool of civilisation that is available to us to make sure that in the end, eventually, all those who made this war possible will be brought to justice'.
Claims that Ukrainian women are suffering sexual assault at the hands of the invaders came as a video emerged of one Russian soldier, who had been captured by Ukrainian forces, seemingly in possession of a stack of condoms.
Located just 15 miles from the centre of Kyiv, the town of Irpin has been devastated by Russian bombing campaigns for weeks.
Many of the town's inhabitants have fled, but many more remain trapped after the town's bridges were blown up while dozens of other civilians were killed as they attempted to escape.
Anastasia, who is now located in the Western city of Lviv, said she managed to escape Irpin with her husband, but they could only take their passports, personal documents and their three cats.
'I am afraid of silence because you are constantly expecting something bad from it. I still dread going outside - I always look for shelter,' she said, explaining that she was nearly caught up in a Russian mortar attack which landed a mere 50 metres away from where civilians were running.
Anastasia's claims that Russian soldiers had raped women in Irpin and shot defenceless civilians echo the accusations made by a resident of Kherson, the first major city to be occupied by Vladimir Putin's troops in the south of Ukraine.
Svetlana Zorina, 27, told CNN earlier this month that she had heard multiple accounts from personal contacts that young women were being raped on the streets of Kherson.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian MP Vasylenko on Thursday told journalists in a press briefing in the UK that there were reports of Russian troops on the outskirts of Kyiv sexually abusing senior citizens who were unable to flee as Russian armour descended on their towns.
Vasylenko is one of four female MPs even special dispensation to leave Ukraine by President Volodymyr Zelensky amid the conflict.
Ms Vasylenko said they were witnessing atrocities 'against the most vulnerable of the vulnerable', before declaring: 'these women are usually the ones who were unable to get out.
'We're talking about senior citizens of Ukraine. It's an extremely painful topic for us to take up, but unfortunately it's still the very beginning of the atrocities that will go on.
'Putin's army is committing war crimes, and crimes against humanity.'
Ukraine's foreign minister Kuleba told a briefing at Chatham House earlier this month: 'We have numerous cases of, unfortunately, when Russian soldiers rape women in the Ukrainian cities.'
The minister called for a special tribunal to investigate and punish the Russian authorities for the conduct of their troops, saying that international law 'is the only tool of civilisation that is available to us to make sure that in the end, eventually, all those who made this war possible will be brought to justice'.
Claims that Ukrainian women are suffering sexual assault at the hands of the invaders came as a video emerged of one Russian soldier, who had been captured by Ukrainian forces, seemingly in possession of a stack of condoms.
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