Russian troops have ‘tacit permission’ to use rape as a weapon, says lawyer

A woman from Ukraine walks over a railway line after crossing a border point into Poland at Kroscienko, in the south east of the country. Picture date: Saturday March 19, 2022 (Victoria Jones/PA)

A top human rights lawyer in charge of gathering evidence to prosecute Russia for war crimes has said troops have “tacit permission” to rape civilians.

Helena Kennedy, who is part of a legal taskforce helping to build war crimes cases in Ukraine, said evidence so far shows “serious offences of a grievous kind” have been committed by Russian troops against citizens.