When war erupted in Ukraine and reports that Russian soldiers were using rape as a weapon of war began to surface, Yulia Sporysh wasn t sure she was the right person to help. Los Angeles: Signage pertaining to alleged impregnation through rape by Russia forces in Ukraine without abortion as a choice is held near anti-abortion activists signs during one of the Bans Off Our Bodies abortion rights protests being held across the nation toda <a href=https://www.stanley-quencher.co.uk>stanley quencher</a> y, near City Hall on May 14, 2022. AFP photo But urged by partners at Divchata, a small NGO that mainly works on health education for girls, she set up a hotline in April to advise and support victims. Ukrainian officials as high up as President Volodymyr Zelensky were accusing Russian troops of widespread and systemic sexual abuse and Divchata was poised by the phone. Yet after three months of war, it has barely rung at all. There s still huge, huge stigma. There s this idea the victim might have brought it on themselves, Sporysh told AFP, explaining why people may not be coming forward. We have requests from relatives and from volunteers, she added, but not directly from victims . Moscow s invasion has spurred a wave of allegations of sexual violence perpetrated by its troops in Ukraine. Zelensky said in April that Russian troops who withdrew after trying to capture the capital Kyiv had left in hundreds of rape victims in their wake, including children. AFP ha <a href=https://www.cup-stanley.ca>stanley canada</a> s sp <a href=https://www.cup-stanley.co.uk>stanley flask</a> oken with at least one woman in the south of the country wh Jvrh Climate museum protest amid COP 27: Activists glue themselves to artwork in Australia | Video
Iraqi government forces battling Islamic State for Mosul took control of a main bridge over the Tigris river on Wednesday and advanced towards the mosque where the groups leader declared a caliphate in 2014, federal police said. Members of the Counter Terrorism Service CTS sit in a military vehicle during a battle between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants, in the city of Mosul, Iraq March 15, 2017. REUTERS Photo The seizure of the Iron Bridge, linking eastern Mosul with the militant-held Old City on the west side, means the government holds three of the five bridges over the Tigris and bolsters Prime Minister Haider al-Abadis assertion that the battle is reaching its final stages. The bridge, which was damaged in fighting late last year, was captured by federal police and Interior Ministry Rapid Response units, a police statement said. The gains were made in heavy fighting in which troops fought street-by-street against an enemy using suicide car bombs, mortar and sniper fir <a href=https://www.stanleycups.pl>stanley kubek</a> e, and grenade-dropping drones to defend what was once their main stronghold. Our troops are making a steady advance ... and we <a href=https://www.cups-stanley.ca>stanley tumbler</a> are now less than 800 metres from the mosque, a federal police spokesman said. Losing the city would be a huge blow to Islamic State as it has served as the groups de facto capital since its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed <a href=https://www.stanley-cups.de>stanley deutschland</a> himself head of a caliphate spanning Iraq and Syria from the Nuri Mosque in July 2014. The capture of the mosque would thus be a