The first Russian soldier accused of using rape as a weapon of war in Ukraine was found to be a married father of two children.
In his absence, Mikhail Romanov will be tried. He is suspected of breaking into a residence and murdering the homeowner before assaulting his wife on multiple occasions. ‘Now we don’t know where he is — maybe he is still fighting, maybe he is on rotation in Russia, maybe he is dead,’ said Ukrainian prosecutor-general Iryna Venediktova.
Romanov, 31, and his wife Albina, who enjoys baking, have a daughter, according to photos.
She is most likely the same age as the woman’s son, whom he is accused of raping.
Investigators say Romanov, a soldier of the 239th regiment of the 90th Guards Tank Vitebsk-Novgorod Division, broke into a house in a suburb of Kyiv in March and shot dead its owner, named as Andrey, 35.
The drunken soldier, along with a comrade, raped his wife, 33, in an ordeal lasting several hours.
They threatened their victim’s son, four, who was sobbing in the next-door room. She told The Times: ‘All the time they held the gun to my head and taunted me, saying: ‘Shall we kill her or keep her alive?’.’
The soldiers returned and raped her again 20 minutes later. They returned a third time but were so drunk they fell asleep, allowing her and her son to escape.
Miss Venediktova said: ‘Even though the accused is not in our hands yet, he will not escape a fair trial.’