Russian Soldiers 'Rape Women' And 'Shoot People' In Ukraine, Evacuee Claims

Russian soldiers raped women and shot people hiding in their homes in an occupied Ukrainian city, an evacuee alleged.

Anastasia Taran, who worked as a waitress in Irpin for four years prior to her departure, claimed that the city, which is located north of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, has become "hell," the Euromaidan Press reported.

Russian soldiers entered private homes in Irpin and either shot their inhabitants or kicked them out of their residences, according to Taran.

"They rape women and the dead are just being dumped. They open the basements where people are hiding and shoot them," said the 30-year-old woman originally from Enerhodar, Ukraine.

Similar accusations were made by residents of Kherson, the first major Ukrainian city to be occupied by Russian forces, the Daily Mail reported.

Taran and her husband spent a week without communication, access to the internet, electricity, heating or water in Irpin.

The couple decided to leave the city after a fellow tenant, who was from the separatist state of Luhansk, told them that things "would only get worse."

Taran, her husband and their cats are now staying in Lviv, the largest city in western Ukraine.

“I feel calmer, but I’m still anxious. I am afraid of silence because you are constantly expecting something bad from it. I still dread going outside: I always look for shelter," Taran said.

Her claims came as Ukrainian officials announced that the first official investigation into a rape allegation involving Russian soldiers has been launched.

Iryna Venediktova, prosecutor general of Ukraine, opened an investigation into a Russian soldier's alleged rape of a Ukrainian woman in Brovary district, Inna Sovsun, a member of Ukraine's parliament, revealed in a statement released Tuesday.

Venediktova, for her part, also released a statement on the same day.

It did not mention the Brovary case, but Venediktova said her office's prosecutors were still "obtaining testimonies from witnesses and victims who fled theatres of war and who have a firsthand information about war crimes committed by [the Russian Federation]."

"Every victim has the right to seek and obtain justice and compensation for losses incurred," Ukraine's top prosecutor said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba previously claimed that there have been "numerous cases" of Russian soldiers committing rape in occupied Ukrainian cities.