Ukrainian women tell of beatings by Russian soldiers | REUTERS

Alla Antonova says she suffered beatings, abuse and threats at the hands of Russian soldiers at her home in occupied Ukraine. All, she says, because they wanted to know where her son-in-law was serving in the Ukrainian army. Antonova spoke to Reuters from the apartment she now rents in Kiev, having fled the port of Berdyansk, part of the southern Zaporizhia region, to escape the ordeal. They took my mother into the kitchen, me into the bedroom and closed the door so that no one could hear me, so that my mother would not hear me screaming. I started screaming. They covered my mouth and told me, don't you shout, otherwise we'll take you with us. Moscow has denied accusations that its forces have committed atrocities or deliberately attacked civilians during their invasion. Russia's diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately reply to a request for comment about the women's claims. Reuters could not independently verify Antonova's account of what happened, nor her mother's. But Antonova did show Reuters several photographs of severe bruises on her arms and legs. One soldier, she said, pulled a plastic bag over her head and pressed down to stop her breathing. A second soldier brushed my head with a metal stick, saying that, we'll only stroke you, but if you don't tell us where your son-in-law is stationed, I said that I don't know. I never asked my daughter where he serves. Then the second one put a black bag over my head. They closed it off and a hand was placed on my face so that I couldn't breathe. I started to lose consciousness. They removed the bag and I felt ill. I told them, just kill me, it's the truth, I know nothing. 53-year-old Antonova said the Russian soldiers visited them three times in the last few months of 2023 and as recently as January this year. In one of the more recent visits, she said, the soldiers beat her senseless. She showed Reuters a video she was made to record, sent to her own 29-year-old daughter, Anastasia. In it, she asked her daughter to cooperate if she wanted to see her again. I was shaking, I couldn't say anything. I stuttered and they told me, speak, as we will tell you to speak on video. We will send this to your daughter now. Say that very good military people came to you and asked you to ask your daughter to collaborate with us. With the help of Ukrainian volunteer workers, the family travelled into southern Russia and then back over the border into Ukrainian-held territory in early February. A report on conditions in occupied areas released this week by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine described a climate of fear in occupied areas more than two years after the Russian invasion. It reports the widespread use of such tactics that Antonova and her family describe. After that report, a Russian senior diplomat accused UN rights bodies of double standards and of turning a blind eye to violations committed in Kiev.