83-Year-Old Ukrainian Woman Brutally Raped By Russian Soldier: Report

A Russian soldier raped an 83-year-old woman in a Ukrainian village last month while the area was still occupied by Russian forces, according to a report.

"He grabbed me by the back of the neck. I started to choke, I couldn't breathe," the elderly victim, Vera, told CBS News.

The retired school teacher said she asked the soldier if he would allow the same abuse to happen to his mother as she was "old enough to be [his] mother," but the Russian trooper just shut her up.

Vera's husband, who has disabilities, was in the house when she was attacked and beaten, she said.

The soldier later grabbed a bottle of vodka after the sexual assault. When Vera asked if she could put her clothes back on, the trooper replied, "No!"

He then left the home and fired his assault rifle in the air three times outside.

Vera has since reported the incident to Ukrainian police, who took the sheets away for testing.

Vera's real name was not used, and her village was not identified for her safety.

The Ukrainian military has received other reports of sexual assaults by Russian forces in Vera's village.

Among the other victims was a 16-year-old girl, according to locals.

International Business Times could not independently verify any of the allegations.

Vera is now "in a state where I'm neither dead nor alive" following the rape.

"Everything hurts. Before, I felt joy with the spring. Now, I don't feel anything. I have nothing," Vera said.

"He should have shot me. I wish he had killed me instead of what he did," she claimed.

Vera believes the soldier was from Ukraine's far east, a region controlled by Russian-backed separatists, where men have reportedly been conscripted to fight for Russia.

Russian forces in Ukraine have committed war crimes such as rape, summary execution and other cases of unlawful violence and threats against civilians, the Human Rights Watch alleged.

Additionally, Russian soldiers were also implicated in looting civilian property, including food, clothing and firewood.

Ukrainian prosecutors are currently investigating nearly 5,000 alleged Russian war crimes, Ukraine Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova announced last week.

Among the cases being investigated by Venediktova's office was an alleged rape in the Ukrainian district of Brovary, where a Russian soldier was accused of raping a woman after he had killed her husband.

The Brovary case was the first rape case involving a Russian soldier to be investigated by Ukrainian authorities.