Ukrainian military medic Oksana spoke about a possible incident of sexual harassment during her service, as well as about the pressure she felt from the command. About this are reported journalists of the “Investigation. Info” project.
According to Oksana, the incident happened on June 6, when she and her colleague, military driver Serhiy, were on their way to the training ground in the Lviv region. The video recordings, which she provided to journalists, recorded Serhiy repeatedly hinting at intimate relationships and making offensive comments.
“What is my fault?Oksana asks her colleague on the video.
“The fact that you are a girl, you and I are very close, and you do not want to make love with me”, – Serhiy answers.
Oksana, who voluntarily mobilized as a medic at the beginning of the full-scale invasion and participated in the battles for Lyman, Vovchansk and Bakhmut, has considerable experience of service in the ATO zone and was awarded the “Steel Cross”. Despite her merits, this incident left a deep mark on her perception of the service.
“We are driving with Sergey in the car, he starts telling me nonsense about how I should be his woman, that he has not had sex for a long time. I tell him: “Listen, we can have anything in life. I have to get married, I I need to have children in the future. I need a normal, serious relationship, but it is not clear what.”, – recalls Oksana.
Her attempts to fight back only provoked Serhiy’s more aggressive behavior. During a stop by the lake, he began to physically assault her.
“He stood next to me and began to rub his pelvis, I understand that the man has an erection. There was no one around, and I was already scared”, – says the doctor.
After the incident, Oksana turned to the commander of her unit, but no official investigation was conducted. She didn’t want the matter to go beyond the battalion, as she feared that she might just be transferred to another unit and thus get rid of the problem.
Oksana submitted a statement to the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), and there they opened criminal proceedings regarding the incident. Currently, the woman does not reveal the details of the case, but emphasizes that the lack of action by the command only worsened her psychological state. Despite this experience, Oksana notes that she continues to believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, calling this incident an unfortunate coincidence.
