The Russian invasion of Ukraine has left the European nation with besieged cities, destroyed buildings, corpse-littered streets and a large number of sexually assaulted women. 

As reports of war crimes such as rape continue to emerge in Ukraine, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has sent about 2,880 kits that include emergency contraception, also known as the morning-after pill, pregnancy tests, HIV treatments, intrauterine contraceptive devices and abortion pills mainly for victims of rape and sexual assault. 

According to Caroline Hickson, the regional director of the IPPF European Network, an individual can use the pills effectively up to 24 weeks of being pregnant. 

While it is unclear if the consumers of the medication are rape victims, Hickson said that there has been an overwhelming need for supply. 

“What we do know is there’s a significant demand from our partners, who are overwhelmed with the number of survivors presenting for services,” Hickson told Newsweek.

“We don’t need data to tell us that this is happening. We know that in ordinary life, violence against women is endemic in Ukraine… So the most important thing for us is to act to care right now, and to make sure that the medical services and the psychosocial services are there to support those women,” she added. 

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While rape victims need abortion care, the medication can be used by several pregnant women who are fleeing the war-torn country. 

“There may be many women who find themselves pregnant and it’s just the very worst moment in their lives to be pregnant because they may be fleeing, they may be displaced, they’re separated from their families, from their support structures,” she explained. 

Meanwhile, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has come to Ukraine’s aid and has provided over 88,000 pounds of  “desperately needed” medicines and supplies to medical personnel in cities like Kharkiv, Kyiv,  Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro.