According to the coroner’s findings, the corpse of 34-year-old Liubov Borniakova was marked with 75 bruises when it was discovered at her house in the city of Dnipro in central Ukraine in January.
According to Borniakova’s aunt and a neighbor, her husband, Yakov Borniakov, had been hiding out at their apartment for the past month after deserting the army.
Domestic Violence Surge in Ukraine After Russia’s Invasion
In the two weeks before Borniakova’s death, he routinely beat her while intoxicated, they told Reuters.
The aunt, Kateryna Vedrentseva, claimed to have arrived at Borniakova’s house hours after the woman had passed away on the night of January 8 and that there was absolutely nowhere on her that remained alive.
Her head, her legs, her arms, everything was beaten.
Yakov Borniakov, his attorney, or his family could not be reached by Reuters for comment.
A Dnipro police official said that a criminal investigation into Borniakova’s death was proceeding but would not disclose any other information.
As millions of people left the conflict following Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the number of domestic abuse cases officially reported in Ukraine initially decreased.
However, as families have moved back into their former houses or into new ones, instances have increased this year, per Reuters’ study of previously unreported national police statistics.
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2023 Sees Alarming Increase in Domestic Violence
The report indicated that compared to the same time in 2022, the number of recorded cases increased 51% in the first five months of this year.
They were more than a third greater than the last peak, set in 2020 and attributed by experts to pandemic lockdowns.
More than a dozen authorities and specialists in the field told Reuters that the rise was due to increased stress, difficult economic conditions, unemployment, and trauma from the fighting.
They said that women are the victims in the great majority of incidents.
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