The editorial office of Slidstvo.Info received information about the possible sexual harassment of a Ukrainian military medic during her service and the alleged pressure on her from the command. Oksana, who has experience serving in the Anti-Terrorist Operation zone and received an award from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine last year, reported the harassment. More than two months have passed since the incident, but an official investigation has not been conducted in the unit, and the alleged perpetrator left the unit voluntarily. Oksana’s psychological state has deteriorated, and she is being transferred to another unit. Slidstvo.Info journalists spoke with the command of the unit.
The video has English subtitles.
– “What am I guilty of?” Oksana asks her colleague, a military driver.
– “Because you are a girl, we are very close, but you do not want to make love with me,” responds Serhiy, who is sitting on the driver’s side next to Oksana. There is no one else in the car.
– “I respect you as a friend.”
– “I don’t need any respect, I’m not your friend. After this stage comes sex, whether you want it or not. Am I not right?”
This is a conversation from a video recording provided to the editorial office of Slidstvo.Info by military medic Oksana. It took place on June 6 on the way from Lviv to a training ground located in the region. There, Oksana, along with other members of her unit, was completing a training exercise before heading to the combat zone.
Military medic Oksana
“NO NEED FOR ANY RESPECT. SEX NEXT”
Military medic Oksana served in the ATO zone and received the “Steel Cross” award from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for her service in 2023. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, she voluntarily went to the military commissariat and was mobilized as a medic. She saved soldiers in battles for Lyman, Vovchansk, and Bakhmut.
At the beginning of May 2024, before heading to the combat zone, Oksana, along with other soldiers from her regiment, went to a training exercise at one of the training grounds in Lviv Oblast. On June 6, as the training was coming to an end and the final preparations were being made, Oksana picked up medicines from Lviv, and her colleague, a military driver, drove her back to the training ground.
“We are driving with Serhiy in the car, and he starts telling me nonsense about how I should be his woman, and how he hasn’t had sex for a long time. I tell him: ‘Listen, anything can happen in life. I have to get married, and have children in the future. I need a proper, serious relationship, not some wishy-washy nonsense,'” Oksana recalls.
At some point, Oksana began secretly recording on video what was happening in the car. Slidstvo.Info journalists received permission from the woman to view these videos and publish the conversations.
The medic says she felt uncomfortable during this conversation, and the driver was psychologically pressuring her. Oksana tried to respond sharply, but then Serhiy’s tone changed, he started speaking rudely and “snapped” at her. The woman could not allow herself significant resistance because she is physically much smaller than the man. When the military left Novoyavorivsk in Lviv Oblast, Serhiy insisted that he and Oksana go to a lake.
“After he went swimming, we approached a bridge, I started looking into the water, and he says: ‘I want to take a photo with you.’ He stood next to me and started grinding his pelvis against me. I understand that this person has an erection. There was no one around, and I was already scared. We go. He jumps into the car, and starts saying that I offend him very much. Supposedly, he doesn’t know what to do and we must have sex… And I went into hysterics, and it manifests as laughter. On one hand, this person did not physically rape you. But you are afraid to say something because you don’t know how they will react. If you raise your voice, if you respond sharply,” Oksana says.
– “Oksanka, we are already dating. After this stage comes sex, whether you want it or not. Am I not right? We could even make love on the bridge. Come on? You won’t even feel it.”
– “No, keep your little willy to yourself.”
– “Do you want a big one? Oksanka, if you do this, it will get big. It will become what you need. I guarantee you that you will like everything.”
– “I was not prepared for someone to allow themselves to do such things during service. Because no one has ever harassed me. I was not prepared for someone to grope me, to humiliate me, to explain to me that I have to be someone’s woman just because I am here,” Oksana says.
Slidstvo.Info journalists tried to contact Serhiy through various messengers, but he did not respond to calls. His colleagues say that the man left the unit voluntarily and has been reported missing since August 28.
“WE NEED MORALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY STABLE PEOPLE”: THE REGIMENT’S REACTION TO THE HARASSMENT
Oksana says she reported the harassment to her unit commander. She didn’t want the situation to spread beyond the battalion and was reluctant to be transferred to another military unit.
“I understand that people will follow the standard procedure – to get rid of the woman, I don’t want that. I just want to stay here. So that it doesn’t go any further, we will resolve this issue on the spot, I only need an apology and guarantees of safety from people,” the medic says.
The servicewoman called the head of the medical unit, Andriy, and after ten days, he arrived at the training ground where the training exercise was taking place. According to the head of the medical unit, he turned to the battalion commander and wrote a report about the harassment of a subordinate: “Because I stood up and defended Oksana, a group of people, on the contrary, created a strange situation. They accused the medic of provoking it, and this was supported by the chief sergeant.”
Slidstvo.Info journalists contacted the command of the regiment and the unit to find out what the commanders did when they learned about the possible harassment of their subordinate.
“I reported the possible harassment to the command, and the battalion commander offered Oksana to write an explanatory statement – she refused. Since then, no formal document has been received from her. According to the military personnel who were present there, Serhiy apologized,” said acting commander of the unit Anatoliy.
To prevent gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the military unit, briefings were conducted. However, the regiment refused to provide Slidstvo.Info journalists with copies of documents about the conduct of these measures. The journalists also wanted to obtain a comment from the regiment commander.
He only said that he was aware of the possible harassment, and for the rest of the questions, he delegated the response to the public relations assistant – Viktor: “There is a statement about refusing to give testimony. There is no formal request to conduct any investigation, there is no official basis. We must officially react, and for this, we need a document. Not conversations that we have been having for several months. We will have a commission on this issue (held on September 4, – ed.) from the Ground Forces of Ukraine. Specifically regarding Oksana’s case, her signal. This commission will make its decision based on the facts. Serhiy cannot be present because he left the unit voluntarily. One of the problems with this story is that the guy disappeared and no one has contact with him, he just ran away,” Viktor says.
“I HAVE NOWHERE TO SEEK PROTECTION”
“For two months, no investigation has been conducted into the harassment against me. It is being covered up. Why do I later find out that Serhiy is being transferred to the same company, to the same unit as me? It turns out: ‘We decided, if we cannot confirm the fact of harassment, let them be together, let others confirm it. How?’ Understand my state, for two months, I have been sleeping whenever I can, and my night sleep is solely medicated, and I understand that I have nowhere to seek protection. If you are a woman, then you are completely defenseless in the army,'” Oksana says.
The regiment told Slidstvo.Info journalists that Oksana and Serhiy are in the same transfer order. But the distribution by units is the responsibility of the Ground Forces of Ukraine.
“When we see that people do not meet the service requirements in our reconnaissance regiment, because we need morally and psychologically stable people. Since both participants in this story showed themselves to be unstable. The fact that she was subjected to sexual violence was not the reason for the transfer. The command assessed Oksana based on the results of the combat training, that she would not be able to perform the assigned tasks. She has not been transferred yet and is still serving with us,” commented the assistant to the regiment commander for public relations.
Sexual harassment became an administrative offense only a month ago (in August, – ed.), said the head of the NGO Women Veterans Movement Kateryna Priymak: “There are hardly any judicial precedents that can shed light on how to focus on the mechanism for bringing such cases to justice. Because sexual harassment is very difficult to prove, it needs to be recorded or agreed upon so that witnesses are not afraid to testify. The full-scale invasion has brought the issue of the rights of military personnel back to the agenda.”
At the beginning of August, Oksana filed a complaint with the State Bureau of Investigation about harassment by a military colleague, and a criminal case was opened there. She does not provide details of the case.
“During the entire period when I was on the front lines, in different locations, I never felt in danger from people. I still believe in our Armed Forces, in our army, and that this was just a coincidence,” the medic concludes.
Slidstvo.Info has information about the regiment, the unit – the names and surnames of the commanders. But the editorial office does not disclose them publicly, as the investigation is ongoing, which began after the victim called the hotline of the Ministry of Defense. The case has not yet reached the court.
