A Ukrainian man was arrested and 15 children, all Russians living in Russia, were identified, but prosecutors in the Kiev region said they were unable to identify other victims or arrest other suspects because of the breakdown of Russia-Ukraine relations since the Kremlin invasion . “These types of crimes are unfortunately common everywhere, in Ukraine and Europe,” said Oleh Tkalenko, senior prosecutor for the Kyiv region, who led the investigation. “But what scares us is the sheer scale of these crimes in Russia.” “The victims of these crimes are the most vulnerable segments of the population,” Tkalenko said. “Parents who force their children to do this are extremely poor. And it’s really hard to stop the spread of these files. And it’s really disappointing because, because of the conflict, all our contacts with Russian colleagues have been cut off.” The investigation began in June when the cybercrime unit of the Ukrainian police received information that a large number of child sexual abuse images were being downloaded and stored in the Kyiv region. Prosecutors a month later searched a house in Bucha where files containing more than 100,000 images and videos of child sexual abuse were found. “We immediately tried to identify the children and victims of these crimes who participated in the network,” Tkalenko said. “And we were shocked to learn that they were all Russian citizens. We’ve identified 15 of them so far, but we’re talking about dozens of kids involved.” Some of the victims were as young as nine years old and came from various regions of Russia, including Moscow, Kaliningrad and Krasnodar. The suspect has been placed under house arrest by magistrates pending a verdict. If convicted, the man faces up to five years in prison. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
The NSPCC offers support for children on 0800 1111 and adults worried about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused as Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331.
