Planned Parenthood Sends Thousands Of Morning-After Pills To Ukraine As Rape Reports Rise

Emergency contraception is being sent to Ukraine amid claims that Russian forces have started using rape as a "weapon of war" in their invasion of the country.

The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has sent about 2,880 packets of the "morning-after pill" emergency contraception, also known as Plan B, to Ukraine, The Guardian reported.

It will also send medical abortion pills, which can be used up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, according to the London-based organization's humanitarian director Julie Taft.

Meanwhile, a network of volunteers across Europe has been collecting donations of the morning-after pill from abroad and delivering them to hospitals in Ukraine.

Emergency contraception was widely available in Ukraine, but Russia's invasion reportedly destroyed local supply chains, caused a displacement of patients and healthcare providers, and increased the rate of sexual assaults.

"The timeframe for treating victims of sexual violence is really essential. If a woman is seen within five days of an event, then that medication should automatically be given to her," Taft said.

Demand for birth control medication is mostly coming from Ukraine's eastern regions, such as the besieged cities of Kharkiv and Mariupol, according to Joel Mitchell of Paracrew, a humanitarian aid organization delivering food and medical equipment to the country.

There were "a number" of rape victims being treated at the hospital of a town located north of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv that Paracrew had directly given emergency contraception to, one of the organization's volunteers told the Guardian.

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as U.N. Women, previously said that it is "increasingly hearing of rape and sexual violence" in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"[V]iolence and rape are used now as a weapon of war by Russian invaders in Ukraine," Kateryna Cherepakha, the president of rights group La Strada Ukraine, told the U.N. Security Council earlier this month.

There are at least nine official cases of women who became pregnant after they were raped by Russian soldiers, according to Lyudmila Denisova, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner.

Around 25 cases of women who were kept in a basement and systematically raped in the previously Russian-occupied city of Bucha have also been officially documented by Denisova's office.

The U.N. has sent 40,000 kilograms (88,185 pounds) of reproductive health supplies to Ukraine so far, according to The Guardian.