Ukraine and more than 40 countries denounce Russian attacks to the UN
More than 40 delegations at the UN supported kyiv's request to stop the bombings and protect the civilian population
Ukraine's permanent representative to the UN, Andrii Melnyk, denounced this Tuesday, along with the ambassadors of more than 40 countries, an "unacceptable escalation" of Russian attacks on his country this weekend and called for a "total, immediate and unconditional" ceasefire.
“Russia has reached a new and atrocious level of aggression against Ukraine by further intensifying its attacks against the civilian population and civilian infrastructure,” declared Melnyk in front of the Security Council along with almost all European representatives, that of the European Union and those of Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea, among others.
The United States, which has assumed a mediating role between the Ukrainian president, Volodír Zelensky, and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, did not participate in the appearance.
As Melnyk explained, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, the Russian armed forces “launched one of the largest combined attacks against Ukraine,” using hundreds of aerial weapons, including ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles.
This attack was “one of the most devastating” recorded to date in the city of kyiv. “We strongly condemn Russia's escalation of attacks: attacks on civilians, civilian objects and Ukraine's critical energy infrastructure constitute serious violations of international humanitarian law and must stop immediately,” the ambassador said on behalf of the allies.
The Ukrainian called for “a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire”, as well as “concrete humanitarian measures”: “The complete exchange of prisoners of war, the release of all illegally detained people and the safe return of all internees and civilians who have been forcibly transferred or deported, including thousands of Ukrainian children.”
The representatives appeared before a session of the Security Council in which the Secretary General, António Guterres, called for “avoiding escalation” between Russia and Ukraine.
In addition to this weekend's attacks, Moscow announced a bombing campaign against command centers and military industry companies in kyiv in response to kyiv's attack on a student residence in the occupied Lugansk region and urged foreign citizens and diplomatic personnel to leave the Ukrainian capital "as soon as possible."