Interfax Ukraine: 75 Ukrainian children tortured by Russian forces, prosecutor says.

Ukrainian prosecutors discovered that Russian forces had tortured 75 children throughout the full-scale invasion, Interfax Ukraine reported[1] on Aug.

31. Most cases of torture took place in Chernihiv Oblast's village of Yahidne, which was under Russian occupation for about a month, a Prosecutor General's Office representative told Interfax in an exclusive interview. According to the head of the Department for Protection of Children's Interests and Anti-Violence, Yuliia Usenko, Ukrainian authorities have opened 3,200 criminal cases over Russia's crimes against children.

"These include murders, mutilations, child abduction, forced displacement, deportation, sexual violence against children, attacks on institutions and facilities for children," Usenko said, adding that kidnapped children had often been tortured and illegally detained.

Departing EU diplomat: Civilian casualties in Ukraine may be 3 times higher than UN estimates From the indiscriminate killings of civilians in Bucha, Izium and Mariupol, to the everyday terror of long-range missile strikes, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shocked the world in its devastation and brutality. Behind the tragic headlines, Ukrainian state institutions are faced with t...

During the occupation of Yahidne at the beginning of the all-out war, Russian troops kept 367 residents in a school's basement for 27 days.

Fifty children were among the hostages, and eleven people in total died, according to the President's Office[3]. "The conditions in which the children were (held) together with adults in the school's basement and their treatment equated to torture," the official added.

Tortured Khersonians speak of Russia's crimes As Maksym Nehrov sat in the back of a vehicle, tied up, with a bag over his head, he overheard the Russians talking and he knew at once where he was headed.

They'd hunted him all over Kherson, kicking down doors and tearing through the apartments of his

Except for Yahidne, prosecutors also reportedly recorded isolated cases in Kherson and Kharkiv oblasts when children were detained and tortured. According to Usenko, the occupiers claimed that the affected children had allegedly provided the Ukrainian military with information about the movement of Russian military equipment. The prosecutor emphasized that Ukrainian authorities had received reports of torture and other crimes already after the territories' liberation, including 13 cases of sexual violence against children.

News Editor

Dinara Khalilova is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent.

She has previously worked as a fixer and local producer for Sky News. Dinara holds a BA in journalism from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and a Master's degree in media and communication from Bournemouth University in the UK.

References

1. ^ reported (interfax.com.ua)
2. ^ Departing EU diplomat: Civilian casualties in Ukraine may be 3 times higher than UN estimatesFrom the indiscriminate killings of civilians in Bucha, Izium and Mariupol, to the everyday terror of long-range missile strikes, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shocked the world in its devastation and brutality. Behind the tragic headlines, Ukrainian state institutions are faced with t... (kyivindependent.com)
3. ^ President's Office (kyivindependent.com)
4. ^ Tortured Khersonians speak of Russia's crimesAs Maksym Nehrov sat in the back of a vehicle, tied up, with a bag over his head, he overheard the Russians talking and he knew at once where he was headed.

   They'd hunted him all over Kherson, kicking down doors and tearing through the apartments of his (kyivindependent.com)