Boutcha, a mother and her daughter testify to the rapes (Swiss Press Audio 2023, by Maurine Mercier) - Swiss Press Award
RTS
Maurine Mercier
To protect her mother and daughter, a 38-year-old Ukrainian woman living in Boutcha was raped several times a day for more than two weeks by Russian soldiers. Maurine Mercier, for RTS, recorded an extremely poignant account of rape, murder, and other abuses after the liberation of this small town near kyiv. "I knew they had already killed many of my neighbors and that they could kill us at any moment... I'm not ashamed of what happened to me. I'm more ashamed for those who fled, leaving their elderly parents behind," says Ekaterina. With her daughter, they describe very young soldiers, between 18 and 25 years old, systematically drunk and "totally unpredictable" under the influence of hashish, who looted houses and fired their weapons to signal their arrival. Ekaterina draws the strength to move forward from her anger.
Interview with Maurine Mercier
