Ukrainian women tell of beatings and threats under Russian occupation

Alla Antonova and her daughter Anastasia sit in a rental-apartment in Kyiv after Antonova escaped from her home in Russian-occupied Berdiansk amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, March 20, 2024. REUTERS/Anna Voitenko

KYIV (Reuters) - Alla Antonova says she suffered beatings, had a plastic bag thrust over her head and endured many other threats from Russian soldiers in occupied Ukraine who wanted to know where her son-in-law was serving in the Ukrainian army.

Her mother Natalia Kucherova, 73, was made to sit in an adjacent room of their apartment, but says she was generally left alone - the soldiers were only interested in her daughter.