In Ukraine, for the first time, a Russian serviceman accused of sexual violence during the occupation of the Donetsk region can appear in court in person. The Times reported this on June 12.
We are talking about 51-year-old Sergei Karpilovich, who is now in Ukrainian captivity. According to the investigation, he raped a resident of the Donetsk region named Oksana (name changed in the article) for several months from October 2022 until the liberation of the village in December.
The man himself denies guilt, claiming an allegedly voluntary relationship, the media writes.
The Times notes that this is one of the first cases in which a Russian military man accused of sexual assault was brought before Ukrainian justice.
“For me, this feels like a great victory for justice. I see that he is punished right here and now. Not sometime or somewhere,” senior war crimes investigator Diana Zobnina told the publication.
The media also told the story of another girl, Sofia (name changed) from a village in the Kharkov region. One of the military men forcibly transported her to Belgorod, where she was raped repeatedly for more than a year. In September 2023, Sofia escaped. Later, Russian law enforcement officers detained him for desertion, but he had already served in the Russian army, and the prospects for justice are “small,” the publication notes.
