

Illia Iliashenko was 19 when he was captured by the Russians at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol on May 18, 2022. During his 10 months of detention, the Ukrainian soldier endured countless acts of torture, but there is one he has always kept silent about: the sexual abuse inflicted upon him by his torturers. "When you are in prison, you think about your entire life," said the frail young man one March afternoon in Kyiv. "I wanted to start a family and have children. Today, if I ever can't have any, I'll know why."
After the Russians withdrew from the Kyiv region in April 2022 and part of the occupied territories in the country's east was liberated seven months later, Ukrainians gradually discovered the extent of the sexual violence perpetrated by Moscow's soldiers. What is less known, however, is that the Russians also use this weapon of war against men–both military and civilians. But the taboo is so strong, and it is so rare for survivors to speak out, that this phenomenon remains largely invisible. And yet, its scale is massive, according to the initial findings collected by the United Nations.
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