CNN's Nick Paton Walsh speaks with 16-year-old Dasha, who says she was raped by a Russian soldier in her village in Ukraine's Kherson region. CNN cannot independently verify Dasha's story, but Ukrainian prosecutors in the Kherson region said in a statement they had investigated her account. #CNN #News
A 16-year-old girl’s testimony paints a picture of brutality by Russian soldiers
This is horrific! ! The other Russian soldier could’ve done more to subdue his drunk buddy. Alcohol, guns and a perverse mind at work, yet again. Hope the kid gets through to safety and some sort of therapy. Bless her.
@Alan G Yes they were lied to. No doubt. But that doesn’t make the crimes they all committed any better. A lot of the nicer Russian soldiers are pressured by the more aggressive Russian soldiers to kill civilians, rape etc.
That happens to all of us in the workplace and life. Younger people are influenced and told what to do by the older more confident men.
I am a veteran. But I am a really nice guy. Don’t want to hurt anyone. I got bullied. If you do not go along with the group, you will alienate yourself and in war, your own soldiers can easily kill you and blame it on the enemy and no one will do an investigation and find out what really happened in an ocean of dead bodies!
It is everyone for themselves in war. No rules. Doing the right thing means nothing. Everyone is mad and angry about being there and away from home and their own family amd their life is in danger every minute so it brings out the worst in men.
It is just like cops, when you give anyone that much power, most people especially alpha males will abuse that power. They intimidate, torment and murder. And justify it all. They think they are doing the right thing in their own minds. They think they are the good guys. On both sides.
@Milky Way It sounds like you have experience dealing with crazy gungho lunatics with guns. Was your unit ever involved in atrocities? If so how did you deal with them?
@Alan G Yes. I had all types of personalities around me. Some of them raped, some of them stole money and jewelry, some of them got off on torture and murder.
What can you do when the majority of the guys you are with are okay with that behavior. Nothing. You can’t report them bc you have to go back out there with them and they will murder you next if they have the slightest suspicion. If anything they did got out, they would know it was the guy who didn’t do any of those things which was me.
It’s just like a cop who lies on his police report to protect his partner who he has to rely on in the field to have his back and protect him. In order to get him to protect you, you need to protect him and cover up for all of his flaws. That’s how it works. That’s what you have to do. There is no choice. Otherwise you will alienate yourself and be labeled the snitch and no one will trust you and your life is in danger, not from the enemy but the soldiers/cops you have around you.
I left the military as soon as I could after that. It was not for me. That is not my nature. But it shocked me how many men did what they did with no remorse. You just can’t trust anyone.
@Milky Way It sounds like some of the horrible events of iraq, and the blackwater mercenaries were worse. I heard of plenty of friendly fire deaths and sometimes complicity seems like the safest option. getting back to the current atrocities, the best thing a conscientious participant could do is get those at risk as far away as possible. Did the other attackers choose the best way of mitigating the worst of their comrades?
Therapy? Are you out of your mind???? Well, the unit has many soldiers, and they have complicated relations. They have lost their humanity to a different degree, but they still think of each other as war-brothers, and they will not break their brothership over this. This is how good people get conditioned to tolerate evil and to commit evil.
Evil truly roams the world. This is beyond disgusting. God helps these babies.
World should unite to help the victims. No woman should go through this
@My Views Dude hush already
One story of many I’m certain. She lived and now suffers from life altering trauma along with tens of thousands of others. When the tallying is done we will all wonder what it takes for good people to get involved. Are we “good people”?
@david devault Well, you are entitled to your opinion. But for you allowing yourself to highjack this specific segment to make this issue about yourself and trump, is clear enough. And beyond vile.
My, how easily soldiers become monsters when given permission. They must have been monsters already. I wish this poor survivor a much better life. But the scars she has don’t go away.
@Christopher Moore dude be quiet Jamaicans chat bad get use to it
@Kg Records Are you excusing your bad spelling because you are Jamaican?
Now I heard it all!
It muta bin de ganda mon…..
@A .M What years did you serve?
@Christopher Moore lol…damn!
There is no worse thing than rape. It remains with you for the rest of your life. Damn these men.
@milomilo55 I can’t imagine what it must feel like… the helplessness, the confusion… it is just wrong. That’s why I don’t understand some of these people’s stance on it. Funnily, most of This idiotic rhetoric comes from (not surprisingly) men, who I think, either don’t know what they’re talking about, or are trying to convince themselves that what THEY did at some point to a girl/woman, wasn’t as bad as they convinced themselves to be.
@milomilo55 I can’t imagine how traumatic that was for you. Either time. I hope you have had counselling to find peace of mind.
Lord! Poor girl. Russia’s attitude to this suffering is sickening. Sure her family all need support after that terrible incident.
@Christopher Moore and you know it because…
This poor girl, she was 6 months pregnant too. How low and vile are some of these so called soldiers from Russia, we’re hearing of a lot more rape on civilians in Ukraine, it’s unimaginable the suffering that’s been caused.. Be strong.
@Juan Carlos Alonso Under normal circumstances, you do not call yourself Goebels. But then, Russia has never been a NORMAL country. These un-humans are proud of what they should be ashamed of.
Wow!! Unbelievable!! It is very sad!! I really hope she’s OK and getting the help she needs, You can tell in her voice she is traumatized. No Mercy on this cowards .🤬🤬🤬
wau, there are even some humans in the Russian army trying to stop this…. every day I learn something new.
I spent a long time believing that Putrid was the baddie, and that we had no animosity towards the Russian people. These soldiers are Russian people.
Hold on hold on….the poor girl is sitting there telling us this terrifying story and at the end of the video “we cannot verify this attack but” – are you kidding me? You’re hearing it from the victims mouth!
Well it’s not like they can just go and ask the Russians for more info or bring in the accused rapist for questioning/DNA samples…
@Toni Glick so I guess advice would be if it ever happens to you to go straight to an ER and get an exam asap
So many horrfying events, the 15 year old gang raped in Irpin as her mother was dying in the basement over 2 days from a gunshot wound, the teenage girl whose mother and sister were raped and killed, the Russian soldier whose Russian girlfriend told him in an intercepted call to wear a condom when he rapes Ukrainian girls, they were both tracked through social media, their voices confirmed in cold calls, and he was actually then captured a few days ago.
Oh I really wouldn’t want to be that Pow. The Ukrainians are generally pretty decent in the way they treat their captives but if this guy is identified for sure, I don’t think he will be having any children.
@Vintage Bollinger I don’t know if he is actually guilty of any crimes, but the revolting conversation he had with his girlfriend speaks volumes about the degree to which Ukrainians have been dehumanized in wider Russian culture, and Russia’s military culture is incredibly violent, their hazing of new recruits called _dedovshchina_ leads to hundreds of suicides a year.
Where he is?
I feel Dasha’s pain and my heart goes out to her, what that drunken Russian soldier did to her was a disgusting act of the lowest level ever, there’s no need to treat a woman like that, I sure hope they find the guy responsible and make him pay dearly for his crimes.
Agreed, but she’s not a woman. She’s a girl. 😔
@delpinsky Yeah, from what I can gather, there is a culture of impunity. In Russia, specifically the Russian military, it’s an open secret that those in power can do what they want with impunity. Putin can seize assets of oligarchs at will. Oligarchs can exploit workers at will. Cops can demand bribes at will. Husbands can beat wives. Drill sergeants can abuse recruits at will. Soldiers can abuse civilians.
If one of them does something really egregious, even by their low standards, they’ll do something, but the main effort will be towards making sure it’s covered up. There’s one case of a Russian soldier raping a baby, and when he was found out by his officer, he was just taken into the woods and shot. No formal investigation, and everything got covered up after that.
It’s a f**ked up society and I can only hope that it gets a massive overhaul.
I’m so sorry this happened to her. I hope her mind and heart heal.
Im so sorry for Dasha… As the international community I think we should do more to help. This is not enough
It’s hard to help them . When Trump and His People. Are calling PUTIN a GENIUS
@Channel 420 who in any political position of power is calling him a genius?
I’m lost for words, how can you say how you feel about such vile acts? She is a child expecting a child, even in ‘normal’ times this must be frightening, then to have your country invaded by war criminals who abuse you in the worst way possible…
I don’t know if she will read these comments but if she somehow does you are strong, you are innocent and you have the whole world behind you. I’m thinking of you and your baby in my prayers.
Hope they all stay safe and she delivers a healthy baby.No one should have to go through that horror esp.at such young ages. To deal with the terror these ppl put upon them! God keep them all safe for a better life! Godspeed! 🙏💙💛Glory to Ukranian citizens and soldiers! Hold strong against evil!🙏
Thank you for being able to report with dignity and respect towards this young lady.
Oh dear. Precious Dasha. I’m so sorry to hear this happened to her and I know it’s happened to many girls and women. Grieves my heart to know there are people who can do there wicked acts to another person and some of the most vulnerable. Prayers for her and these women/girls to heal from this trauma in every imaginable way and prayers for full restoration in all that was stolen from them.
These monsters know no boundaries. There was even a report of raping of an 83 year old woman, another of a raping of a teenager near her murdered mother’s corpse. Every single case is a war crime. It goes so far beyond human comprehension of normality, it’s just so sickening.