The dark red billboards in the Ukrainian city of Lviv present a powerful image: Russian President Vladimir Putin is on his knees, a woman stands above him and pushes a gun into his mouth. The caption reads: "I am not a beauty for you.”
It’s a furious response to Putin’s sexualized description of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where he quoted a Soviet-era punk band’s lyrics about rape: "You sleep my beauty, you’re going to have to put up with it anyway.”
The country’s ombudsman for human rights, Lyudmyla Denisova, has been documenting reports of widespread rape and sexual abuse from areas occupied by Russian forces. And the details are horrifying. Denisova told the BBC that Russian soldiers told women "they would rape them to the point where they wouldn’t want sexual contact with any man, to prevent them from having Ukrainian children.” Many of those who survived are now pregnant.
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