Ukraine: first case against Russian soldier suspected of raping Ukrainian civilian submitted to court

The first criminal case against a Russian soldier accused of raping a Ukrainian civilian during the war was submitted to a Ukrainian court, the country’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova stated on Facebook.

The prosecution pressed charges against Mikhail Romanov, a Russian serviceman from the 239th regiment of the 90th Guards Tank Vitebsk-Novgorod Twice Red Banner Division. He is accused of killing a civilian and raping his wife.

According to the prosecution, in March, Russian soldiers entered a house in the Brovary district in the Kyiv region and shot the owner of the house. After that, two drunk soldiers raped his wife several times. Venediktova added that the men threatened to hurt the woman’s child, who was also in the house.

“Although the suspect is not in custody right now, he won’t escape justice and responsibility before the law,” the prosecutor general said.

Earlier, the Kyiv regional police reported that nearly 1,300 bodies of civilians killed during the Russian occupation of the region in February and March were found in the region. Regional police chief Andriy Nebytov earlier stated that the majority of civilians were shot with automatic weapons. Russia has repeatedly dismissed reports of civilian killings as “a provocation” and “fake news”.