Ukrainian prosecutors have announced the initiation of over 3,000 criminal cases against Russia for alleged crimes against children, including dozens of torture cases. Yulia Usenko, the director of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine's Department for the Protection of Children's Interests and Combating Violence, provided the details in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
A Range of Atrocities: From Murders to Sexual Violence
The extensive allegations against Russia include "murders, mutilations, abductions of children, forced displacement, deportation, sexual violence against children, and kidnapping," said Usenko. These alleged crimes are "often combined with torture and illegal deprivation of liberty and are documented in more than 3,200 criminal proceedings, she added.
Since Russia commenced its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, numerous bodies-ranging from Ukrainian authorities, human rights organizations, international entities, and news agencies-have reported a plethora of alleged Russian war crimes and human rights abuses. Russia has consistently denied these claims.
According to Usenko, at least 75 children experienced various forms of torture at the hands of Russian forces, primarily in the village of Yahidne in Ukraine's northern Chernihiv region. These children were held in the basement of a school alongside adults, and their conditions and treatment are "equated to torture," said Usenko.
Isolated instances of child torture have also been recorded in the southern Kherson and northeastern Kharkiv regions, where minors were "deprived of their freedom and subjected to physical torture. Usenko highlighted that some of these children were detained on the pretext of allegedly spreading information about the movement of Russian military equipment and troops.
These horrifying accounts came to light after the recapture of some Ukrainian territories by Russian forces. Usenko also confirmed 13 cases of sexual violence against children, the youngest of whom was only four years old.
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Conflicting Numbers in Child Deportations
International scrutiny of Russia's treatment of Ukrainian children has been unyielding. In March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova for allegedly deporting Ukrainian children to Russia. Russia dismissed the charges, asserting that they were saving the children and denying any forced deportations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky disclosed that Ukraine believes at least 19,505 children have been illegally deported to Russia. In contrast, Russian officials claim that more than 700,000 Ukrainian children have been taken from conflict zones to Russia since the war began.
Last week, new U.S. sanctions targeted individuals and entities involved in the forcible transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children, adding to the earlier sanctions on Lvova-Belova.
According to Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, at least 545 children have been killed and nearly 17,000 injured since the start of the war. Ukraine's representative to the UN, Sergіy Kyslytsya, emphasized that Russia's actions constitute not only an assault on Ukraine but also an attack on its future.
With an international focus on the war's severe impact on children, Ukraine continues to grapple with a horrifying reality that has shocked the world. Despite Russia's denials, the growing body of evidence suggests a grave situation that demands urgent global attention.
