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Threats to international peace and security.
See also verbatim meeting report here: https://undocs.org/en/S/PV.9544 In a meeting called by the Russian Federation to discuss an attack on a bakery in a region in Ukraine presently under Moscow’s control, many speakers in the Security Council today noted that the tragic loss of civilian lives would have never occurred had it not been for that country invading its smaller neighbour. Briefing the 15-member organ, Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs said that, on 3 February, 28 people, including a child, were reportedly killed, while dozens more injured, in the shelling of a building housing a bakery in the town of Lysychansk, in the Luhansk region of Ukraine. Meanwhile, in regions under Ukrainian control, the last few weeks have witnessed intensified Russian strikes, she said, citing attacks resulting in the killing of civilians in Sumy, Donetsk and Kharkiv regions. Last week had witnessed a significant escalation in violence, with more than 570 settlements targeted, mainly in the Zaporizhzhia region, she added. Citing figures from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which recorded 30,041 civilian casualties from February 2022, she noted that civilian casualties in Ukraine significantly increased in December and January compared with previous months, reversing a trend of decreasing civilian casualties throughout 2023. On the humanitarian front, she pointed out that 14.6 million people — a staggering 40 per cent of the population — needed humanitarian assistance in Ukraine, and called for unrestricted access to the 1.5 million civilians in need of assistance in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine under Russian control. In the ensuing discussion, many delegates called on the Russian Federation to withdraw from all of Ukraine, voiced concern over the humanitarian impacts of the war and emphasized the need for unhindered humanitarian access during harsh winter conditions, while some other speakers underscored the need to refocus efforts on diplomacy and dialogue. The delegate of the United States, urging those present to “remember that Russia alone started this war”, asserted that “the Kremlin bears full responsibility for the unconscionable death and destruction brought about as a consequence of [Russian Federation President Vladimir V.] Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine”. While calling for the protection of all civilians on all sides of every conflict, he stated that Kyiv has demonstrated its commitment to fully investigate any allegations of violations or abuses committed by its forces, in contrast to the Russian Federation’s lack of transparency and contempt for international law. The representative of France, recalling the killing of two French aid workers on 1 February when the Russian Federation deliberately targeted the clearly marked convoy of a Swiss non-governmental organization, said: “The cynicism with which Russia is trying to turn the tables of responsibility escapes no one.” Moscow is, once again, crudely manipulating the Council, he said, pointing out that it was “insulting our intelligence” by convening a meeting amid its daily attacks on civilian populations. In a similar vein, Japan’s delegate stated that the incident under discussion would not have happened without Moscow’s unprovoked aggression against a sovereign State, stressing: “Russia continues its repeated and useless attempts to make us forget this clear fact.” As a permanent member of the Security Council, the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine is a challenge to the rules and principles of the international community, she said, calling on that country to unconditionally withdraw from Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Russian Federation’s delegate, decrying the missile strike by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Lysychansk, said: “the Neo-Nazis deliberately waited for the moment when families went out for a walk on a day off”. Military infrastructure was not located in the immediate vicinity of any cases involving attacks by Ukrainian militants, he said, calling on the Council and UN leadership to decisively condemn the rocket attack on Lysychansk and all other terrorist acts of the Kyiv “regime”. As well, he stated that all goals for the “denazification” of Ukraine would be achieved, diplomatically or militarily. Rounding out the discussion, the representative of Ukraine said that the “boundless cynicism of this regime that persists in inventing new allegations against the country it has fiercely attacked is astounding”. While that delegation was misusing the Council platform, it offered an opportunity to remind members that the Ukrainian city of Lysychansk has been under Russian Federation occupation since July 2022 and awaits its liberation, he said, calling on Moscow to make “the only just decision” and cease its aggression as outlined in General Assembly resolution A/ES-11/L.7 of February 2023.
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