A human rights agency from Ukraine found evidence of torture against children committed by Russia. If true, it would be their worst crime yet.
Proofs of horrific war crimes committed by Russia are found every time a city in Ukraine is liberated. As the Russian army retreats, they leave behind signs of destruction and misery inflicted upon the local population. With Kherson it was no different, though this time they might have reached a new low.
Kherson used to be the most important city under Russian control in Ukraine. It was the only regional capital they managed to conquer, the only major prize Putin could show for this invasion.
Then, however, the Ukrainian army managed to reconquer Kherson at the end of a sweeping counter-offensive. The city, Ukraine’s major strategic objective for the counter-attack, fell after a series of important tactical victories.
First, Ukraine managed to cut Russian supplies in the south by attacking in the north. The region of Kharkiv was liberated at the beginning of September, disrupting Russian military movement.
Then, the few Russian supply routes to Kherson were also attacked, namely Crimea and its bridge to mainland Russia. This bridge, named Kerch after the strait it crosses, was bombed by Ukrainian missiles and rendered unusable for a couple of weeks.
Finally, Ukraine took advantage of Kherson’s position, hard to defend by Russia because it was on the “wrong” side of the Dnieper for them. The only way Russia had to funnel in supplies was through a series of bridges over the river, which were of course attacked by Ukraine.
So, Russia had no choice but to retreat, leaving Kherson to the Ukrainian liberators. Once Kyiv’s army entered the city, however, they found evidence of unspeakable crimes.
Torture on Ukrainian children
For the first time since the start of the war, Ukraine found evidence of torture against its children committed by Russia. The announcement has been given by Dmytro Lubinets, the Human Rights commissioner for Verkhovna Rada.
He talked about “children’s cells”, prison facilities specifically for younger Ukrainian people. Lubinets gathered local testimonies according to which children were held on little to no food, being psychologically tortured by Russian chiefs. They would tell the kids that their parents had abandoned them.
Always according to Lubinets, kids would be imprisoned for as little as “taking a picture of broken Russian equipment.”
No international committee has yet confirmed or denied such claims. Were them to be true, it would be the worst war crime committed by Russia so far.
The EU already proposed the creation of an international tribunal for war crimes in Ukraine, but it’s yet to take off and gather wider support. Until then, Russian deeds risk going unpunished.
