Russian Army Officers Force Female Medics To Be Sex Slaves, Injured Soldier Claims

Russian servicemen patrol near the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant in occupied Kherson AFP / Olga MALTSEVA

KEY POINTS

A colonel ordered his subordinates to create impossible living conditions for a medic who refused his sexual advances
The female medic was sent to the frontline under the colonel's orders
Another female medic was left permanently disabled after being shot by a Russian officer

Officers of the Russian army are allegedly forcing its female medics to become sex slaves amid the war in Ukraine, a former Russian female service member revealed.

In an interview published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on Tuesday, Russian service member Margarita also said medics who refuse to become the officers' "field wives" or sex slaves face horrible mistreatment.

Margarita, who retired from the Russian army in 2017 after 11 years of service, said she volunteered as a medic to provide for her children. She was sent to Nizhniy Novgorod for training where she met a colonel commanding a tank platoon who made sexual advances to make her his "field wife," which she rejected.

Margarita said the colonel continued to make sexual advances even after his platoon was sent to the combat zone in Ukraine. The colonel later ordered his subordinates to create impossible living conditions for Margarita, including forcing her to sleep nights on the ground and sending her to the combat zone.

"They wanted to break, in general, so that I agreed to sleep with him. But I survived, and when he realized this, I was immediately thrown into the artillery, also on his orders. To the red zone, to the very front. Maybe he thought I was going to die there," she said, as translated via Google Translate.

Margarita said she has spent the past two months in rehabilitation and is taking antidepressants to cope with the trauma she endured in the Russian army.

Margarita is one of the seven women in the medical platoon who were pressured to become sex slaves. On one occasion, she said she witnessed an officer shoot his "field wife" in a drunken rage, leaving her permanently disabled.

At the same time, another woman in the platoon named Alina was being passed around among different Russian officers. Margarita said Alina was never sent back to the unit.

"Mostly the girls have made peace with it. They decided that it's better to live in paradise in this war — fed and with cigarettes," she said.

It is unclear how many women are currently serving in the Russian military. However, an estimated 40,000 women were believed to be in the army in 2021, making up less than 1% of its 900,000 soldiers.