On Thursday, Ukraine held a preliminary hearing in the first trial to charge a Russian soldier accused of repeatedly raping a Ukrainian woman.
Mikhail Romanov, 32, is accused of raping a 33-year-old woman in the village of Bohdanivka, which is north of Kyiv. Romanov is not in Ukrainian custody and will be tried in absentia. Prosecutor Oksana Kalyus affirmed that Romanov will be arrested if found by Ukrainian authorities.
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“If he crosses the border, he will be arrested and delivered to Ukraine,” she said.
Ukrainian prosecutors believe that Romanov is currently residing in Russia.
Romanov allegedly raped the woman, who asked authorities not to name her for privacy, three times during Russia’s failed attempt to seize Kyiv. In the village of Bohdanivka, the Russian military gained a temporary foothold in the early part of the war. During that time, Romanov and a fellow soldier shot this woman’s husband, killing him. Romanov then raped her before leaving, but it is alleged he returned twice to rape her.
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A prosecutor told Reuters that 50 sexual violence crimes are being investigated but that the number of sexual violence incidents is likely much higher.
