The facts of sexual violence of the occupiers against Ukrainians are a systematic action of the enemy against the Ukrainian population, said Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar.

"It is very important to show that they (the occupiers) are essentially fighting with the civilian population, so we are not just talking about sexual crimes, we are talking about acts of medieval cruelty that the enemy shows towards our civilian population," said Maliar in Kyiv on Monday at a conference within the framework of the United for justice initiative, dedicated to the investigation of sexual violence during the war.

She noted that this is a specific crime, even the gender of the victim matters. "If it concerns girls, women, then it is still perceived by society, if it is men and boys, then it is not perceived by society. Therefore, we must work with our people, showing that at present we are not just talking about sexual crimes, we are talking about international crimes committed by the aggressor on our territory against our population," Maliar stressed.

She explained that in wartime sexual violence is not only sexual violence as such, but also "an act of domination by some troops over others, an act of moral humiliation."

"This is done in order to demoralize society, to break our resistance. I think that it is necessary to communicate with society in this way – to perceive it as an enemy's crime against Ukrainians," she stressed.

"It's not just a Russian soldier doing this. This is a systematic action of their state against our civilian population," the Deputy Defense Minister summed up.