{"id":1398689,"date":"2022-03-24T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1398689"},"modified":"2022-03-24T14:00:08","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T18:00:08","slug":"ukraine-zelensky-marks-one-month-of-war-accusing-russians-of-mass-rape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ukraine-zelensky-marks-one-month-of-war-accusing-russians-of-mass-rape\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine: Zelensky Marks One Month of War Accusing Russians of Mass Rape"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fukraine-zelensky-marks-one-month-of-war-accusing-russians-of-mass-rape%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1398689&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"subheading\">Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered an address on Thursday observing one month of full-scale war with Russia by accusing Russian soldiers of a variety of human rights abuses against civilians, including looting, seizing humanitarian aid, and rape.<\/p>\n<p>Ukrainian officials have sporadically mentioned reports of rape in urban areas that Russian soldiers have invaded, but without providing details or evidence. The U.S. State Department, in its formal accusation against Russia of war crimes this week, did not mention any incidents of alleged rape of Ukrainian civilians by Russian soldiers.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>The Russian government has denied all allegations of rape against its soldiers, simply referring to them as \u201clies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, escalating an existing eight-year-old war by sending Russian forces into major Ukrainian urban centers, including Kyiv, on February 24. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/asia\/2022\/02\/21\/ukraine-completely-created-russia-putin-recognizes-sovereignty-pro-russian-separatists\/\">announcing<\/a> the military \u201coperation,\u201d Russian leader Vladimir Putin claimed that Ukraine did not have a \u201ctradition\u201d of being a sovereign state and modern Ukraine was \u201ccompletely created by Russia.\u201d Putin recognized two Russian proxy entities, the Donetsk and Luhansk \u201cPeople\u2019s Republics,\u201d as sovereign states within what the international community respects as the borders of Ukraine, and claimed these \u201cgovernments\u201d requested Russian military intervention.<\/p>\n<p>In his address, shared online by the state media outlet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ukrinform.net\/rubric-ato\/3438228-month-of-resistance-zelensky-addresses-ukrainians-and-peoples-of-the-world.html\">Ukrinform<\/a>, Zelensky accused Russia of attempting to \u201cwipe off the face of the earth\u201d the modern Ukrainian state and declared that the Russians, by failing to end the war quickly, had already lost.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>|The original plan of the Russian troops failed already in the first days of the invasion,\u201d Zelensky declared. \u201cThey thought Ukrainians would be frightened. They thought Ukrainians would not fight. They were wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n[embedded content]\n<p>Zelensky then proceeded to list alleged human rights abuses that Russian troops have committed in the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRussian troops destroy our cities. Kill civilians indiscriminately. Rape women. Abduct children. Shoot at refugees. Capture humanitarian convoys. They are engaged in looting,\u201d the president accused. \u201cThey burn museums, blow up schools and hospitals. The target for them is universities, residential neighborhoods\u2026 Anything! Russian troops do not know the limits of evil.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Zelensky did not elaborate on where and when these war crimes allegedly occurred, instead turning to the Russian people and urging them to protest against their government and its alleged abuses.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B3\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI want to address the citizens of Russia separately. I am sure that there are many of you who are disgusted by the policy of your state,\u201d Zelensky said. \u201cWho are already just sick of what you see on TV. Of the lies of your propagandists on the Internet. Propagandists who are paid by your taxes. And they lie about the war, which is paid for by your taxes. And which makes all the citizens of Russia poorer. Poorer every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIsn\u2019t that stupid?\u201d he asked. \u201cYour state collects taxes from you to make you poorer. To isolate you from the world. To make it easier for them to control you. And easier to send you to the war to die.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>Zelensky concluded insisting that \u201cUkraine has never threatened the security of Russia\u201d and urging Russians to \u201csave your sons from the war.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Parliament of the European Union welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s application to join the bloc in a resolution on Tuesday \u2013 a first step in a long and difficult official joining process that Ukraine may not technically qualify for. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/467rQKMHMa\">https:\/\/t.co\/467rQKMHMa<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreitbartNews\/status\/1499203527759085571?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 3, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Zelensky\u2019s accusation of rape against Russian soldiers are not the first from Ukrainian officials, though the direct accusation from the country\u2019s head of state is an escalation. In early March, Zelensky\u2019s top diplomat Dmytro Kuleba <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndtv.com\/world-news\/ukraine-russia-war-ukraine-accuses-russian-soldiers-of-rape-amid-war-2803736\">told<\/a> reporters that Kyiv had documented \u201cnumerous cases\u201d of rape during a visit to London, without elaborating.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B4\" class=\"a8d adSo\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWe have numerous cases of, unfortunately, when Russian soldiers rape women in the Ukrainian cities,\u201d Kuleba said at the time, according to the Agence-France Presse (AFP).<\/p>\n<p>Last week, four Ukrainian lawmakers sent to London to advocate for their country repeated the accusations of rape, alleging that Russia was using \u201cmedieval siege tactics\u201d including sexual violence against the elderly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re talking about senior citizens of Ukraine,\u201d lawmaker Lesia Vasylenko <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/politics\/ukraine-mps-russia-violence-invasion-b2038105.html\">told<\/a> the press in the United Kingdom. \u201cMost of these women \u2026 have either been executed after the crime of rape, or they have taken their own lives. The main problem is that victims and families do not have the strength or capacity to come forward.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Vasylenko also alleged that as many as 90 percent of the civilian buildings in the port city of Mariupol, currently under some of the heaviest fire from Russian forces, have been shelled or damaged, according to the U.K.\u00a0<em>Independent<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The lawmakers did not present any formal evidence for these allegations.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, Parliament member\u00a0Inna Sovsun <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/first-rape-investigation-opened-in-ukraine-over-alleged-sex-crime-committed-by-russian-soldier\">announced<\/a> that Ukraine\u2019s prosecutor general had compiled evidence of one case of rape by a Russian soldier in Kyiv, suggesting that the government would soon formally publish the evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Russian officials have denied all allegations of sexual abuse in Ukraine.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20357660\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/media.breitbart.com\/media\/2022\/03\/GettyImages-1239464566.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>People attend the funeral of Ukrainian serviceman Ihor Fedorchyk killed during Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, at Lychakiv cemetery, in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on March 24, 2022. (YURIY DYACHYSHYN\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe do not believe the Ukrainian Prosecutor-General\u2019s Office. The Russian military personnel do not attack or shoot at civilians. The Russian army helps civilians,\u201d Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov <a href=\"https:\/\/tass.com\/politics\/1426243\">told<\/a> reporters on Wednesday, according to the Russian news agency Tass. \u201cAs for rape charges, we do not believe this at all. It\u2019s a lie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Peskov accused Ukrainian fighters of the crimes that Moscow is facing charges of.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are ever more eye-witnesses coming out of cities who confirm that civilians are being kept there as a human shield and that nationalist battalions open fire on civilians trying to leave Ukrainian cities,\u201d Peskov alleged. The spokesman also claimed that Russia had put together humanitarian corridors to help civilians out, but the Ukrainian government was keeping civilians \u201cunaware\u201d so as to use them as \u201chuman shields.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"inread\">\n<div>On the same day, the Russian \u201cNational Defense Management Center\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/tass.com\/defense\/1426587\">accused<\/a> Ukrainian \u201cnationalist battalions\u201d of \u201cmass looting\u201d of civilian property.<\/div>\n<div id=\"_mwayss-deb9bae0dc0dd889fef31fa4e0fd8b641648126058904\">\n<p>\u201cIn addition to physical extermination of the population in Chernigov, Sumy and Zaporozhye, commanders of the nationalist battalions have organized mass looting of residential buildings, and public and private organizations,\u201d the head of the center, Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, claimed, Tass reported. \u201cThey use seized ambulances and postal vehicles to take material valuables toward Ukraine\u2019s western borders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mizintsev also claimed Ukrainians are destroying their own critical infrastructure and attacking ambulances, without providing evidence for the claims.<\/p>\n<p>American Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia of \u201cwar crimes\u201d in a statement on Wednesday.<br \/>\u201cToday, I can announce that, based on information currently available, the U.S. government assesses that members of Russia\u2019s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine,\u201d the statement read in part.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve seen numerous credible reports of indiscriminate attacks and attacks deliberately targeting civilians, as well as other atrocities,\u201d Blinken alleged. \u201cRussia\u2019s forces have destroyed apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, critical infrastructure, civilian vehicles, shopping centers, and ambulances, leaving thousands of innocent civilians killed or wounded. Many of the sites Russia\u2019s forces have hit have been clearly identifiable as in-use by civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blinken notably did not mention any evidence of rape or other sexual crimes against civilians.<\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Frances Martel on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/francesimartel\/&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1648119860490000&#038;usg=AOvVaw3qazzf2-Idylj4rkHk1nNX\">Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/twitter.com\/francesmartel&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1648119860490000&#038;usg=AOvVaw2zh1TgxtkEYKTcjMAS3Xex\">Twitter.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered an address on Thursday observing one month of full-scale war with Russia by accusing Russian soldiers of a variety of human rights abuses against civilians,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1398689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1398689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1398689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1398689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1398689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1398689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1398689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}