In the village of kherson,
Russian occupation maybe over.
But the wounds inflicted by
Russian soldiers on innocent
Ukrainian civilians could last
forever.
CNN's Clarissa ward joins a
team of Ukrainian investigators
who are going door to door
looking for evidence of Russian
war crimes, specifically cases
of rape and other acts of
sexual violence.
>> Day after day, if they go
house to house, a team of
investigators dispatched from
the capital.
These men are tasked with
looking for cases of sexual
violence.
>> No one was assaulted in this
village, these women tell them.
But every home has suffered.
When Russian forces were pushed
out of this area earlier this
month, they left a trail of
mystery behind them.
Down the road, an elderly woman
inconsolable, asked for help.
>> I don't know where to sleep
now, there are no windows or
doors, she tells the policeman.
>> 71 year Vera son's was
injured fighting on the front
lines. She is alone and afraid.
>> Okay.
She wants to invite us into see
how she is living.
This is what remains of her
home --
only her precious icons are
untouched.
Oh my god, oh god's mother.
Please keep my son alive and
let me see him again.
In town after town, throughout
the kherson region, this is
what victory looks like.
And it is grim.
Almost every house has been
Detroit by heavy fighting.
And the people scarred by
months of Russian occupation.
In the next village, the
investigators talked to 56 year
old Tatyana.
We have agreed not to name the
village or show her face to
protect her identity.
She takes us to her brother's
house where she says she was
raped by a Russian soldier on
August 26th.
>> [Interpreter]
He pinned me against the
wardrobe and groped me.
He ripped my clothes off.
And I was caught in his grip.
It was very hard and painful
for me.
I was crying, begging him to
stop but with no success.
[End of translation]
>> And did he say anything when
it was over?
>> [Interpreter]
Do not tell anyone anything or
it will be worse.
That's everything he told me.
And then he left.
But it's very hard for me.
[End of translation]
>> Did you tell your husband
what had happened?
>> [Interpreter]
I did not tell my husband right
away.
But I told my cousin and my
husband overheard.
He said, you should have told
me the truth, but you kept
silent.
I was very ashamed.
Very.
[End of translation]
>> The shame is on him.
>> [Interpreter]
He is probably not ashamed, if
he is still alive.
I wish that he and all his kin
were dead.
[End of translation]
>> --
it's coming to the end of a
long and emotional day.
They visit the last village on
their list.
Tomorrow, they will head back
to Kyiv to submit their
findings.
They have reported six
allegations of rape in their
two weeks here.
It must be a hard job --
>> It is psychologically
difficult.
You understand every victim is
so distressed, oleksandr says.
But this is important work.
>> Most cases, they say, go
unreported.
Like so many of the horrors
that took place under Russian
occupation here, they remain
hidden in the dark.
>> Now the Russian ministry of
defense has repeatedly denied
any sort of systematic claims
of rape that have been taking
place with its soldiers on the
ground.
But one interesting thing that
we found, Jake, when we asked
Tatyana what she did after the
rape, whether she spoke to
anyone about it, she did say
that she went to the Russian
commander in the town three
days after it happened and
reported the officer who had
raped her and she said that his
response was to come and see
her a couple of days later and
say that he had punched the man
in question in the jaw and,
would she like to have him shot
to, which she replied, I would
like to see all of you shot,
Jake.
>> He said, Clarissa, that
these investigators you are
traveling with, they're headed
back to Kyiv to report their
findings.
Six instances of rape.
Is there any hope?
Anyone who will actually be
held accountable?
>> I mean, there is no question,
Jake, this is a long uphill
battle and it is going to take
a lot of time.
Part of the challenge that they
face is that it's quite
difficult, often, to identify
these Russian soldiers, to get
their full names.
Tatyana was able to do that but
there are so many other cases
where people don't either know
the full name or they don't
want to talk about it.
>> But the way the Ukrainian
authorities see this, and the
police and the prosecutors who
are working towards, ultimately,
getting some accountability, is
that they have to start
building a case.
You have to start from
somewhere.
Though, so, they will come back
here to Kyiv.
They will put together what
they have.
And they will see whether they
can start initiating any
criminal proceedings.
In more than 40 cases of sexual
violence at the hands of
Russian forces, across the
country in areas that have been
occupied, they have already and
she aided criminal proceedings.
But as I said before, Jake,
this is a long slog.
And it's not going to happen
overnight.
But it is still so important to
get the details to document it
with the hopes that one day
there will be justice for these
women.
>> This village has been throw
so many horrible atrocities.
They hope that the worst is
behind them?
Is there any possibility that
that is it?
Or are they afraid that the
Russians will return?
Y afraid that th>> I mean, I think that what is
so tragic, when you spent time
in these villages, and you are
hoping that people will be
jubilant that the Ukrainian
forces have been able to take
some of the territory back but
the reality is they are now --
returning to their homes
because many of them, obviously,
had left, to find that their
lives had been completely
shattered, Jake.
You look at that woman, Vera,
in her 70s, sleeping on a bed
with a hole in the roof and
absolute carnage all around her
and debris and no heat and no
electricity and no water and no
basic services.
And we were left with the
feeling of, how is she going to
survive?
How can she possibly actually
continue to live here?
But I think for so many people,
surviving is just the first
challenge and now it is just
trying to fathom how you
rebuild when a war is still
raging, Jake.