UN Condemns Russia’s Occupation of Ukraine Amidst Accusations of War Crimes and Violent Retaliation

The UN has strongly opposed Russia’s war of occupation against Ukraine.

In October 2022, 143 of the member states condemned the annexation of four Ukrainian regions. Only five, including Russia, gave the green light.

Now Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov turns to the UN and points the finger at the organization for not stopping Ukraine, reports Reuters.

It refers to excessive violence allegedly committed by Ukrainian forces in connection with the attack against Russia’s Kursk region last month.

– This is where they bomb homes every day, bomb social institutions and peaceful citizens who move in their cars to safer places, he told Russian media, according to the news agency.

“I don’t hear a voice”

Russia, which committed many documented war crimes during the invasion, says Ukrainian “terrorist groups” are using Western weapons to carry out “indiscriminate actions”.

And now Lavrov insists that it is time for the UN to celebrate.

– I have not heard any voices from the representatives of the UN responsible for human rights, including, of course, the Secretary General, Lavrov says, referring to the head of the UN Antonio Guterres.

This is not the first time that Russia has appealed to the UN.

The country did the same when it was expelled from the Human Rights Council and afterwards he made a desperate attempt to return.

“Not seen in Europe since the 40s”

Since the start of the war with the annexation of Crimea in 2014, the Russian military has committed numerous war crimes.

According to acclaimed author and historian Anne Applebaum, the world seems to have misunderstood the magnitude of the horrors.

– These are war crimes that we have not seen in Europe since the 1940s, she told SVT last year.

Since March 2023, the Hague Tribunal, ICC, has issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin in connection with the illegal forced transfer and deportation of children from Ukraine suspected in Russia.

– All Ukrainian children who were kidnapped from their homes or institutions and taken to Russia have lost contact with their parents, says Anne Applebaum.

War crimes in Russia

Among the war crimes that Russia is suspected of committing in Ukraine, the human rights group Amnesty mentions the following:

– deliberate attacks on civilians

– Enforced extinction

– Extrajudicial execution

– Pain

– illegal detention

– Urgent movement

– Abuse of prisoners of war

Photo: Office of the President of Russia

Text: The editors