In addition to the danger posed by direct attacks on its territory, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a little over two years ago exposes its own society to other types of risks.
According to the criteria of
These are the crimes and attacks committed by former participants in the conflict upon returning home. and that, in most cases, are caused by the symptoms of post-traumatic stress that they suffer.
Soldiers in military training.
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The case of Stanislaw Ionkin, the Russian sergeant who started a fire in 2022 in which 15 people died, as well as that of Alexander Mamayev, a former soldier who stabbed his wife in front of his children while drunk, are just two of the 190 crimes perpetrated by Russian ex-combatants in the last two years, 55 of which were murders.
But they also reveal a new social problem of the war: the thousands of cases of mental disorders among soldiers -as well as among their families- and the limited capacity of the government to care for them all.
11,000 military personnel, as well as their family members, sought psychological help last year, but only 15% of them were able to receive treatment
According to data from the Russian Ministry of Health, around 11,000 military personnel, as well as their family members, sought psychological help last year, but only 15% of them were able to receive treatment.
A fact that, according to a Russian psychotherapist consulted by DW, triggers or can cause other disorders. “There is also dependence on alcohol or psychotropic substances, which causes problems in society,” says the expert.
More than 300 cases of sexual violence during the conflict
For their part, Ukrainian authorities have documented since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion near 130,000 incidents that could constitute war crimes, including 301 cases of sexual violence, committed by Russian Federation troops, as announced by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Andri Kostin.
“The Russian invaders have killed more than 12,000 civilians, including 551 children,” added Kostin during a panel dedicated to the humanitarian consequences of Russian aggression held within the framework of the Peace Summit promoted by kyiv that this weekend brought together more than one hundred countries and international organizations in Switzerland.
The attorney general explained that the figure includes only “confirmed data.”
According to a statement issued this Monday by the Ukrainian presidency regarding what was stated by the kyiv representatives on the panel, the Ukrainian ombudsman, Dmitro Lubinets, denounced to the participants that “All” Ukrainians who have been in Russian captivity have suffered torture that he described as “systematic.”
Ukrainian military in Donetsk, in February 2023
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The panel also included a civilian and a soldier who were taken prisoner by the Russians and a Baptist pastor from Odessa who lost part of his family in a Russian drone attack, according to the statement from the Ukrainian presidential office.
Ukraine has described the celebration of the first Peace Summit held in Switzerland as a success, where 78 of the 101 countries and international organizations that sent representation signed a final statement in which they defend the territorial integrity of Ukraine and ask for the return to kyiv of the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
The statement also calls for an end to attacks on port infrastructure and the restoration of freedom of commercial navigation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to ensure the normal supply of food to global markets.
Finally, the text calls for the release of all prisoners of war on both sides and the return to territory controlled by kyiv of all detained Ukrainian civilians and children deported by Russia from the occupied territories.
*With information from EFE
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