According to journalists, the European Union blacklisted Russian Armed Forces officers Nikolai Kuznetsov and Ramil Ibatullin, whose units were involved in sexual violence in Ukraine in the first months of a full-scale war.
On Tuesday, March 7, the European Union imposed sanctions on two commanders of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation involved in acts of sexual violence on the territory of Ukraine. We are talking about Nikolai Kuznetsov and Ramil Ibatullin, writes Reuters.
According to journalists, Nikolai Kuznetsov took part in a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, and fighters from his unit “systematically participated in acts of sexual violence and rape in Ukraine in March/April 2022.”
Ramil Ibatullin also headed a division of the Russian Armed Forces involved in “sexual and gender-based violence against the civilian population of Ukraine.”
It is noted that the introduction of such restrictions is the first case of the use of EU powers approved in 2020 in order to bring to justice those who violated human rights.
The sanctions list also includes two Moscow police officers, two members of the Taliban organization, some people in Myanmar and South Sudan, as well as the Iranian women’s prison Garchak.
A full list of those blacklisted by the EU for sexual assault and other human rights violations will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union by March 8.
“By imposing these sanctions, we are sending a clear signal to criminals that they will not get away with their crimes. These terrible, inhuman actions have consequences. It is also a signal to the victims: the EU will support you, wherever you are,” the Foreign Minister said. Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra.
As part of the imposed sanctions, all assets of suspects in the EU will be frozen. In addition, sanctioned persons will no longer be able to enter the territory of the European Union and use the services of European companies.
Sexual violence of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Ukraine
According to the first lady of Ukraine, Elena Zelenskaya, during the full-scale war, the Russian invaders raped at least 171 citizens of Ukraine, of which 13 were children and 39 were men.
Elena Zelenskaya mentioned a case in the Kherson region, when a Russian serviceman repeatedly raped a 62-year-old woman, threatening her with a weapon, spoke about two families from the Kiev region who survived sexual violence by the occupiers, as well as about a woman from Svetogorsk, who was raped by three Russian military .
The first lady noted that all victims are now receiving psychological assistance
According to the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Kateryna Pavlichenko dated October 27, 2022, the most sexual crimes during the occupation of Ukrainian regions by the soldiers of the Russian Armed Forces were recorded in the Kiev region.
The first case of the rape of a Ukrainian citizen by a Russian military was brought to court on May 30 last year. It was about a soldier of the 239th regiment of the 90th Guards Tank Vitebsk-Novgorodskaya division of the Russian Federation Mikhail Romanov, who killed a man in the Kiev region and raped his wife while their 4-year-old son was crying nearby.
In September 2022, the UN revealed the facts of war crimes of Russians in Ukraine, confirming cases of extrajudicial executions, beatings, torture, sexual violence, humiliation and inhuman treatment of prisoners of war. For 10 days, the commission investigated the war crimes of the occupiers in 27 settlements of the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkov and Sumy regions, while interviewing more than 150 victims and witnesses.
