Ukraine Fires Own Human Rights Chief For Perpetuating Russian Troop 'Systematic Rape' Stories
For over the past two months, an avalanche of stories have hit Western mainstream press which purported to document instances of mass rape carried out by Russian troops against Ukrainian civilians. One particular story in Time took off, driving outrage and condemnation by Western officials and receiving repeat coverage on CNN and other major US networks. [...] As has been the pattern in prior wars, whether in Syria or Libya, the media claims got more and more sensational and over-the-top as the conflict intensified, and as Western powers became more deeply involved, yet with no concrete or definitive proof.[...] Many such stories which presented ever-more horrifying details as the war progressed quickly went viral, particularly among pro-Ukraine activists on Twitter and other social media, to the point where prominent pundits would begin casually agreeing amongst themself that Russians simply are "animals". [...] But recently, within the last couple of weeks, as investigators began to dig deeper into the allegations, it seems the media stories started to dry up.
Ukrainian official fired after disseminating unverified claims of Russian soldiers raping children | Greek City Times | According to Ukrinform, one member of the Ukrainian parliament, Pavlo Frolov, provided a number of reasons why Denisova was removed. This included “the numerous details of ‘unnatural sexual offences’ and child sexual abuses in the occupied territories, which were unsupported by evidence and only harmed Ukraine.” He also stated that other reasons for her removal from her post included “repeated failure to perform her duties related to the establishment of humanitarian corridors” as well as “counteracting the deportation of adults and children from the occupied territories.” Ukrainska Pravda also reported that more than 230 of the 450 members of the legislative body voted in favour of removing Denisova. It’s unclear who will take over the post at this time.