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New laws in Ukraine will see convicted paedophiles and rapists forcibly castrated by chemical injection.

The legislation will potentially apply annually to thousands of men aged between 18 and 65 found guilty of raping or sexually abusing minors.

Paedophiles will face "coercive chemical castration" under the the new system.

This "involves the forced injection of anti-androgen drugs consisting of chemicals that should reduce libido and sexual activity", reported Ukrinform news agency.

The law will apply to all child rapes including "unnatural" rape and sexual abuse of children above and below the age of puberty.

In 2017 official figures showed 320 child rapes in Ukraine but the numbers of paedophile sex abuse cases are believed to run into the thousands.

(Image: east2west news)

National police chief Vyacheslav Abroskin said this week: "Five children were raped in four regions of Ukraine...within just 24 hours.

"And these are the crimes which parents reported to police despite their fear and anxiety to do so.

"We can only guess how many latent sexual crimes against children we have in the country."

In one horrific recent case, 11-year-old Daria Lukyanenko, from Odessa region, was killed after she "fought back" against an alleged rape attempt by a family friend Nikolay Tarasov, 22.

(Image: east2west news)

Her body was found after a six-day search in a village cesspool and the man was detained for attempted rape and murder.

Hundreds attended her funeral and the suspect’s mother Maria publicly "disowned" her son.

Earlier armed police intervened after his family home was besieged by angry locals.

Under the new laws, Ukraine is also to set up a public register of paedophiles jailed for child rape and sexual abuse of minors.

Such criminals will be monitored for life by police after release from jail.

In another move, the maximum jail term for raping a child was increased from 12 to 15 years.

(Image: east2west news)

The toughening of the law on sex crimes involving children was passed at a special session of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament.

Radical Party leader Oleg Lyashko who proposed the castration move said: "Ukrainian law does not have a life term or death penalty for sex crimes against children.

"And it is very unlikely that the rapist would not be back to his 'business' again after release from jail."

This was why castration was needed, he said.

Another ex-Soviet state, Kazakhstan, also permits the chemical castration of sex offenders.

(Image: TARASOV/east2west news)

This followed a report saying child rapes doubled to around 1,000 a year in the period between 2010 and 2014.

Ukraine did not specify the chemical cocktail it will use.

But Kazakhstan has purchased stocks of Cyproterone, a steroidal anti-androgen developed for fighting cancer, with doctors administering the injections.

"It causes the lowering of libido," said urologist Dr Mirzakhmet Zhanadilov.

(Image: east2west news)

"The medication is different for each person.

"That is, medication that is enough for one person to prevent repeated (sexual) offending, others can be resistant to.

"For them, not only do we administer the drug but control testosterone too."

But psychologist Gulnara Aytnzhanova warned chemical castration would lead to paedophiles taking out their anger using violence.

"There will be hatred, hatred to society, hatred to other people," she predicted.