Conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) has been documented since armed conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in April 2014 and has continued since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in February 2022.

Since 2022, multiple cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups, law enforcement officials and penitentiary staff have since been verified. Many of the documented cases involved sexual torture against men, both detained civilians and prisoners of war.

National laws in Ukraine proscribing rape and sexual violence are gender-inclusive but there is no specific article on CRSV in the Criminal Code and all violations of law are investigated under Article 438 of the Criminal Code. Efforts to strengthen the capacity of national authorities to investigate and prosecute CRSV are ongoing. Universal jurisdiction cases on CRSV are being pursued in several countries. Some preliminary steps have been taken towards providing reparations to victims/survivors of CRSV.