Ukrainian girls cut their hair short to avoid being raped by Russian soldiers, says official
India Today
In the Ukrainian town of Ivankiv, young girls cut their hair short to be avoid being raped by Russian soldiers who were occupying the region till the end of March, according to an official.
The town was liberated on March 30 after more than a month of being occupied by Russian forces.
During the period of occupation, women were pulled out of basements by their hair so Russian soldiers could abused them, deputy mayor Maryna Beschastna said. "Girls started cutting their hair short to be less attractive, so no one looks at them anymore,” she said.
Speaking to ITV News, she described one incident in which two sisters 15 and 16 years of age were allegedly raped in a village nearby.
Ivankiv is not the only part of Ukraine from where reports of rape have emerged.
In one instance, a Ukrainian woman said she was raped by Russian soldiers moments after her husband was shot dead, while her terrified four-year-old son was crying in the next room.
Additionally, Ukrainian Member of Parliament Lesia Vasylenk has claimed that Russian soldiers raped girls as young as 10 years old and branded women's bodies.
