A Russian soldier’s wife was recorded allowing her husband to rape Ukrainian women during the onslaught of Putin’s forces in the first phase of its invasion. The audio clip came from an intercepted phone call released by the Ukrainian security services. The Russian soldier was later discovered to be Roman Bykovsky, revealed by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He previously served in the National Guards troops, Dzerzhinsky Division. He now serves under the 108th Air Assault Regiment, based in Novorossiysk.

The 30-second clip was intercepted by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) earlier this month somewhere in the Kherson region of Ukraine. It was released to the media through Telegram on April 12 with the title “SECURITY SERVICE INTERCEPT: Wives of Russian invaders allow their men to rape Ukrainian women.”

The woman in the call can be heard explicitly giving her husband the go-signal to sexually abuse women in Ukraine.

“You go there, rape Ukrainian women, and don’t tell me anything. Understood?” said the woman in the recording. The soldier then goes on to ask the woman for confirmation of her approval, to which the woman confirms.

“Yes, I allow. Just use contraception!” the woman replied while laughing.

“This shocking interception by the SSU reflects the moral values ​​not only of the occupiers but also of their relatives, 80% of whom now support the war in Ukraine,” the agency wrote in the recording’s description.

The release of the recording came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian forces of committing “hundreds of cases of rape” during a speech addressed to Lithuanian lawmakers.

A Young Russian Couple

An investigative report done by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was able to identify the Russian couple on the call using sources gathered from the SSU.

The investigation revealed that the couple behind the call was 27-year-old Roman Bykovsky and his wife, Olga Bykovskaya (formerly Pinyasovaya). Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was able to use the numbers provided by the SSU to track down the social media accounts of Bykovsky and his wife.

According to the report, the Bykovskys were from the Russian town Oryol, which was roughly some 217 miles southwest of Moscow. The couple moved to Crimea in 2018, a few years after Russia annexed the territory from Ukraine.

The investigation also identified Bykovsky’s mother, Irina Bykovskaya, whose social media posts reveal that Roman is part of the Russian Armed Forces. Based on the images, it was concluded that Bykovsky was part of an elite unit of the Russian National Guard, the Special Operations Division.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty contacted Bykovsky, who confirmed his identity and said he is currently in Sevastopol, Crimea. However, he denied his participation in the controversial phone call. His wife was also contacted by reporters. She confirmed that her husband was indeed in Sevastopol, adding that he was injured and is currently in the hospital. The source of the injuries was not identified, and both refused to answer further questions.

Roman Byskovsky photographed in his military uniform (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty). Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-rape-russian-soldier-wife-bykovsky/31805486.html
Roman Byskovsky photographed in his military uniform (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)

Despite Roman Bykovsky’s denial, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said that the couple’s voices match those heard in the SSU audio clip.

Although it is possible that the couple may have been joking during the call, the release comes at a time when sexual abuse allegations against the Russian forces in Ukraine are on the rise. This only stoked the flames of the issue as the Russians have allegedly raped women, children, and even men on one occasion.

In earlier reports, SOFREP wrote about Russian soldiers allegedly gang-raping a Ukrainian woman after they shot her husband. They claimed that the husband was a “nazi” and that they did her a favor. Later, she was raped multiple times as her son was in the next room. A 16-year-old Ukrainian girl was also raped by three Russian tankers. Another report also claimed that a 15-year-old girl was held hostage in a basement and was raped by her Russian captors.

Horrific Stories of Russian Sexual Abuse

As Putin’s war in Ukraine drags on, the list of his forces’ atrocities towards women and children also gets longer.

“In areas freed from the occupiers, the recording and investigation of war crimes committed by Russia continues. New mass graves are found almost daily,” said Zelensky during his speech to Lithuanian politicians.

The Ukrainian president added that thousands of testimonies of these abuses are being collected by Ukrainian authorities.

“Hundreds of cases of rape have been recorded, including those of young girls and very young children. Even of a baby!” he continued.

The issue of a Russian soldier allegedly raping a baby was later debunked by SOFREP in an earlier report, which discovered that the Russian soldier in question was in Russia and was unlikely to have been deployed to Ukraine. However, he was still arrested by the Russian authorities as there were videos of him sexually abusing a baby.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, who was present during Zelensky’s speech, responded that “it’s simply impossible to imagine a greater horror.”

After documenting the accounts of the victims, human rights organizations say that the Russian army is using rape as a weapon to strike fear in Ukraine. Moscow has continued to deny such accusations.