Russian women detained for protesting war, forced to strip naked in front of police

Activists protest Russia's war on Ukraine (File Photo)

Russian women detained under suspicion of protesting the Russia-Ukraine war were forced to strip naked and perform squats in front of the police, they claim.

According to The Mirror, a group of 20 women was rounded up near a rally in the city of Nizhny Novgorod and ordered to strip in front of female officers. In some cases, however, cell doors were left open and male officers also passed by as the women stood naked.

The women, aged between 18 to 27, were subjected to “humiliating and degrading” treatment, their lawyer said.

“I am outraged that each of them was searched in a humiliating way at the detention centre, violating our legislation,” said lawyer Olimpiada Usanova. “The females were searched by undressing and squatting five times in the presence of a detention centre officer.”

Their cells had cameras fitted with video recorders, and the women suspect they were spied on as well.

Meanwhile, men detained for the same protest were not ordered to strip and squat, reports the Daily Mail.

“I am concerned that female officers did not close the doors as some women were examined, and male officers were lurking there,” Usanova said, adding that a second search of the women, conducted hours later, forced them to “lift up their shirts, take off their panties, and bare their breasts in the camera surveillance area.”

“Detained men were just patted on their front and back, that's all,” she said. “The girls were forced to strip naked and crouch down.”

The incident took place in March but only came to light recently, when the women took legal action against their treatment at the hands of the police.

Student Ekaterina Devyatkina, 18, was one of the women detained under suspicion of protesting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She said that she first stripped down to her underwear but was ordered to undress completely. She claims she was forced to squat even after informing a female police officer she was on her period.

“The policewoman replied: ‘Well, I'm a woman, I understand everything. Undress and squat’,” she said.