Ukrainian women more vulnerable to sexual violence after Russian invasion, says IRC

Women talk as they take shelter inside the basement of a residential building during a Russian attack in Lyman, Ukraine. Photograph: Léo Corrêa/AP

Women in Ukraine are increasingly vulnerable to sexual violence 12 months after Russia invaded the country, with reports of abuse on the rise, according to a leading humanitarian organisation in the country.

Women fleeing from bombed houses and their home towns are reporting attacks occurring in the home and in communal shelters, said Marysia Zapasnik, the Ukraine country director for the International Rescue Committee.