Ukraine: Amid Growing Rape Cases, Women Are Cutting Their Hair To Be 'Less Attractive' To Russian Troops
In the past few weeks, some heartbreaking stories from several towns of Ukraine have emerged that claim that soldiers are raping women and girls in front of their families.
(Trigger Warning: The story contains graphic details and photographs of violence and rape which could be triggering for some readers.)
As the list of crimes committed by Russian soldiers continues to grow, people in Ukraine are trying to resort to every means possible to save their lives. According to the deputy mayor of Ivankiv, a town fifty miles northwest of Kyiv, women are now cutting off their hair to be 'less attractive' to Russian Troops.
Agencies
This attempt comes to stop Russians from raping them.
Nations all over the globe are sickened by recent allegations that suggest how Russian troops are using sex attacks as a weapon of war in Ukraine.
Reuters
In the past few weeks, some heartbreaking stories from several towns of Ukraine have emerged that claim that soldiers are raping women and girls in front of their families.
Ukraine world
Confirmed reports from Ukraine claim two teenage girls were raped in Ivankiv, a small town that recently rescued itself from Russian invaders.
According to ITV, Deputy mayor Maryna Beschastna said the town's women are cutting off their hair to be ¡°less attractive¡± to the troops.
She said:
Rape is a weapon of war. Though we don¡¯t yet know the full extent of its use in #Ukraine it¡¯s already clear it was part of ?? arsenal. Women raped in front of their kids, girls in front of their families, as a deliberate act of subjugation. Rape is a war crime.
¡ª Melinda Simmons (@MelSimmonsFCDO) April 3, 2022
¡°There was a case in one village, and two sisters were raped¡ girls of 15 and 16¡ children. Women were pulled by their hair out of their basements so that they could abuse them. Girls started cutting their hair short to be less attractive, so no one looks at them anymore.¡±
Speaking in support of Ukraine, Charity Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it had uncovered evidence of "unspeakable, deliberate cruelty and violence" against Ukrainian civilians, which must be investigated as war crimes.
File Photo
In another heartbreaking case, a make-up artist recognized a victim of the Bucha massacre by her manicure.
Reuters
Anastasiia Subacheva, a makeup artist from the nearby city of Gostomel, saw a perfectly manicured hand with red and white nail polish. It was easy to recognize in just one glance as that 'perfectly manicured' hand was the one she had seen multiple times holding a brush or lipstick.
A makeup artist recognized this Bucha victim¡¯s picture by her manicure. The pictured woman, Iryna Filkina, 52, had reached out to Anastasiia Subacheva in February about makeup classes. She dreamed of becoming popular and increasing the number of her Instagram followers. pic.twitter.com/V9MqURTuRA
¡ª UkraineWorld (@ukraine_world) April 7, 2022
Talking about the exact moment when she saw her friend lie lifeless, she said she felt her heart break when she spotted her on the street after Russian forces launched another attack on the city.
Melinda Simmons, British Ambassador to Ukraine, posted on Twitter:
Reuters
"Rape is a weapon of war. Though we don¡¯t yet know the full extent of its use in Ukraine, it¡¯s already clear it was part of (Russian) arsenal.
"Women raped in front of their kids, girls in front of their families, as a deliberate act of subjugation. Rape is a war crime."
According to fresh allegations by Armed forces in Ukraine on Monday, Over 300 cases of rape by Russian forces, including of girls aged 12-16, have been reported in Ukraine.
Russian artist recorded these images outside famous sites in Moscow to protest the Russian military¡¯s massacre of civilians in Bucha.
"Russia is raping Ukraine," the military said. "They are bombing our cities, plundering, murdering, raping women." Russian soldiers are "rapists without any moral boundaries," the Ukrainian military claimed.
Hundreds of corpses were found in Bucha, near Kyiv, earlier this week in an incident referred to as the Bucha Massacre.
Almost 90% of the murdered civilians in Bucha were found to have bullet wounds, not shrapnel ones, ¨C mayor of Bucha. They are not random collateral casualties of war. They were killed deliberately, on purpose. (1/2)#BuchaMassacre
¡ª Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 7, 2022
On Sunday, a picture surfaced on social media that showed the bodies of three women and one man piled under a blanket.
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