More than two and a half years into the war on Ukraine, the Russian Federation's unrelenting attacks continue to cause death and destruction, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, describing an uptick in civilian deaths and daily damage to critical civilian infrastructure.
"Next month will mark 1,000 days of this devastating war. A war that continues to cause deep human suffering, threatens regional stability, and worsens global divisions," said Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, underscoring the United Nations' support for a just, comprehensive, and sustainable peace in Ukraine.
On the security front, he reported that the regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Sumy bore the brunt of the Russian Federation's attacks. While the worst impact of the war continues to be at the front-line communities of eastern and southern Ukraine, death and destruction is also a daily occurrence in areas away from active fighting, he said, pointing to the targeting of the residential areas of the capital, Kyiv, with more than 130 drones this morning and over the weekend.
Voicing concern over continuing fighting across the Russian-Ukrainian border, particularly in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation, following Ukraine's August incursion, he reported that at least 208 Ukrainian civilians were killed and 1,220 injured in September, making it the month with the highest number of civilian casualties this year in Ukraine. Since the start of the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, 11,973 civilians, including 622 children, have been killed, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"Distressingly, we have witnessed the resumption of Russian attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea ports in recent weeks," he said, reporting that, since 1 September, such attacks damaged six civilian vessels as well as grain infrastructure in the ports. The UN continues engagement with Ukraine, the Russian Federation and Türkiye, as well as other stakeholders, in support of freedom and safety of navigation in the Black Sea. Meanwhile, systematic attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure "have become one of the defining, abhorrent hallmarks of this war", he said, renewing his call on donors to increase flexible funding for its Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan.
Also voicing concern over the precarious situation in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, he called for restraint, stressing that reported explosions, drone attacks, and gunfire increase the risk of a nuclear accident. Also voicing alarm over systematic reports of torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war, he called for accountability. However, he welcomed the exchange last Friday of 95 prisoners of war on each side, and encouraged continued exchanges.
Taking the floor, Ukraine's delegate, marking the "sombre milestone" of 1,000 days since Moscow's invasion - pointed to Russian war crimes and Ukrainian suffering and resilience. He deplored Moscow for its crimes, from "training attacks" by recruits against civilians in Kherson, aired on social media, to severe crimes committed by the Russian military against Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees, citing figures from Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General, which documented the execution of 103 Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian forces, 80 per cent of which took place this year.
He also condemned Moscow's intensified attacks on civilian vessels and port infrastructure; its deliberate destruction of power generation; and its ongoing occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Spotlighting Moscow's military alliance with Pyongyang, he said the former protected the latter at the Council in return for ammunitions and ballistic missiles, in violation of Council resolutions, adding Moscow's "is … a gas station with a nuclear bomb". The first point of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's "Victory Plan" was an invitation for Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), "as a signal to the Russian dictator that his geopolitical calculations have failed". Ukraine is open to "honest diplomacy" and will not be forced into unjust compromises, he added.
The Russian Federation's representative countered that the West's imposition of this "ultimatum plan" on his country could only be explained by "the regular use of strong narcotics" and stressed Ukraine's membership in NATO cannot be part of any mediation initiative or peace plan. Moscow was ready to forge neighbourly relations with a neutral Ukraine, but that plan demonstrated that the Russian Federation's special military operation was the right thing to do. Security threats cannot be eliminated without the "demilitarization and de-Nazification" of Ukraine. As such, the "Victory Plan" was a "pseudo-peace plan", aimed to push the West into a direct confrontation with his country, a nuclear power. Ukraine's full defeat on the battlefield is only a matter of time, he added.
Taking issue with several European countries attending the meeting, he said that, in convening such meetings on Ukraine, his Western colleagues were demonstrating their support for their bankrupting anti-Russian project. If they really wanted to address the problems resulting out of the Ukraine crisis, they would not air a worn-out set of accusations. The feeding of weapons, hardware and intelligence to the Kyiv regime - "the main problem" - would be tackled at a meeting called by his delegation on 31 October. Moreover, Kyiv's actions ran contrary to its portrayal as a protector of democracy, he said, assailing the "banditry" taking place in St. Michael's Cathedral in Cherkasy on 17 October, following the ban imposed on the Ukraine Orthodox Church.
Throughout the meeting, delegates voiced concern about the spiralling violence in Ukraine, with Ecuador's representative underscoring that humanitarian needs will become even more urgent as winter approaches. Stressing that attacks against the civilian population and essential infrastructure was a violation of international law, he called on the international community to redouble its efforts to guarantee the adequate financing of the UN's Humanitarian Response Plan, as well as the UN's rebuilding and recovery efforts.
Slovenia's representative, who together with the United States requested the meeting, noted reports that the Russian Federation poisoned Seym River with chemical waste, resulting in over 650 kilometres of polluted waters. That polluted river is flowing towards Ukraine, endangering the water supply of the Kyiv region, potentially affecting millions of people, he warned, urging this be further investigated.
The representative of Switzerland, Council President for October, speaking in her national capacity, detailing the "Ukraine Mine Action Conference", jointly organized by Ukraine and her country last week, underscored that mines not only pose an immediate threat to people, they also render agricultural land unusable, affecting food security not only in Ukraine, but also worldwide.
Many delegations voiced alarm about reports of deepening military cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, including France and the Republic of Korea's delegate, who reported that, since August 2023, over 13,000 containers filled with North Korean artillery shells, missiles and anti-tank rockets have been shipped to the Russian Federation. Moreover, Pyongyang deployed about 1,500 special forces troops to the Russian Federation earlier this month. Echoing the United Kingdom's delegate, he warned that "North Korea will expect a generous payoff from Moscow in return for its troop contribution," including military or financial assistance, or nuclear weapons-related technology.
Similarly, the United States' representative said: "Russia cannot sustain its aggression without assistance; this war ends if Iran and the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] stop providing military assistance and if China stops transferring dual-use war components." Rebuking "expansionist powers", he further stressed that "Russia cannot be allowed to annex parts of Ukraine, nor can Ukraine be told to stop defending its territory". Japan's delegate concurred, stating that any call for peace which, deliberately or not, fails to mention the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, is not in accordance with the Charter.
China's representative, countering that his country has never provided lethal weapons to any party of the conflict, declared: "We neither support any party, nor do we favour any party." Recalling that China, alongside Brazil and some others, set up a "Friends for Peace" Group to mobilize voices for peace, following the ministerial level meeting on Ukraine crisis on 17 September, he stressed that the Group has no intention of interfering in or replacing existing platforms and mechanisms.
Meanwhile, Algeria's representative underscored the need for inclusive dialogue to reach a peaceful solution, a call echoed by Mozambique and Sierra Leone's delegates, with the latter calling on the parties to prioritize diplomacy, de-escalate tensions and refrain from the option of "winning the war on the battlefield at all costs".
The representative of Guyana concurred, also calling on the Russian Federation to allow unfettered humanitarian access in the occupied territories and to sign an action plan with the UN to end and prevent grave violations against children. Malta's representative echoed such concerns, reiterating her support for the mandate of the International Criminal Court, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, as well as to the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
Rounding out the meeting, the European Union, in its capacity as observer, condemned the passing of Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna in an "illegal arbitrary Russian detention", and assailed Moscow's continual weaponization of food through its intensified efforts to disrupt the Black Sea corridor.
Similarly, Estonia's representative, also speaking for Latvia and Lithuania, condemned the systemic executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Vladimir V. Putin's announcement, on 25 September, of the revision of the Russian Federation's nuclear doctrine is a "continuation of irresponsible nuclear rhetoric", he said, adding: "If Russia's leadership thinks that nuclear sabre-rattling helps to facilitate a peaceful solution to this war, there is a far simpler solution - end the war and military escalation and withdraw your troops from Ukraine."
"Any lasting solution must also dismiss Russia's proposals, such as the idea of a 'sphere of influence'," Poland's delegate declared. Calling that concept a "dangerous and outdated colonial relic" that must be rejected, he said, "Ukraine's peace initiatives constitute the only roadmap to a just and enduring peace."
"We must all ask ourselves what is left of our respect for the UN Charter if we let borders be redrawn by force?", asked the representative of Finland, also speaking for Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, stressing that "it is up to Ukraine to define when and on what basis a future peace process should be conducted".
