Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNGA Meeting on Ukraine
Madam President,
Colleagues,
It is now the eighth consecutive session that the UN General Assembly is being compelled to discuss the situation in the so-called “temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.” However, this years-long consideration of this politicized issue has not brought us a single step closer to resolving the Ukrainian crisis. On the contrary, this subject has been turned into an instrument of the anti-Russian campaign, through which Kiev and its Western mentors are seeking, with the help of the UN General Assembly, to legitimize their one-sided version of what is unfolding in Ukraine and portray some pre-conceived accusations as the position of the entire international community.
Madam President,
When the Kiev authorities speak of Russian regions as allegedly “belonging to Ukraine,” they deliberately shift the focus from the key issue, namely the reasons why the people living in these regions ceased to associate their future with Ukraine. What is also being ignored is how the Zelensky regime treats these people today.
The very notion of Russia’s alleged occupation of any territories is untenable from both a political and a legal standpoint. For us, the question of the status of Crimea and Sevastopol, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DNR, LNR), as well as that of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions is settled, and it is not subject to discussion. The residents of these territories made a conscious choice and tied their future with Russia. Such a decision of theirs was driven by the policies of the nationalist forces that seized power in Kiev as a result of the 2014 unconstitutional coup and unleashed persecution of the Russian-speaking population residing in the southeast. Those policies ultimately destroyed the trust of millions of citizens in the Ukrainian authorities and predetermined their desire to return to Russia.
We regard the aforementioned expression of popular will as an exercise of the right of peoples to determine their own fate. We proceed from the premise that the referendums held there were rooted in the principle of self-determination of peoples enshrined in the UN Charter, the 1966 International Covenants on Human Rights, the 1970 Declaration on Principles of International Law and the 1975 Helsinki Final Act of the CSCE.
It may be all very well to deny the obvious and engage in political demagoguery. But it is impossible to force millions of people to renounce their identity, their attachment to the Russian world, their historical memory and the choice they have made simply because that choice does not suit the Kiev regime and its Western patrons.
International law must be universal. One cannot recognize the right of some peoples to self-determination while denying it to others. When declaring independence in 1991, the Ukrainian authorities cited the right to self-determination, yet today they are trying to deny Crimea, Donbass and Novorossiya the exercise of that very same right.
Madam President,
Today, Kiev’s hypocrisy is more than evident. The Zelensky regime continues to refer to Russian regions as “Ukrainian,” calling people living there “Ukrainian citizens.” But at the same time these very people are being systematically shelled by the Kiev authorities using missiles and UAVs. The reckoning here is that Kiev’s Western patrons will fail to notice the atrocities committed by the Ukrainian troops, while the relevant international bodies, which have completely discredited themselves, will not go beyond their customary silence or exceedingly cautious formulations devoid of any attribution. No amount of rhetoric about “reintegration” can conceal the obvious: all this is not about bringing back people who long ago rejected Ukrainian rule, but about a revenge-driven desire to subjugate these people.
The appalling statistics of civilian casualties in these regions bear this out. In one week alone, August 17-23, attacks by the Ukrainian army targeting the DPR, the LPR, the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol killed at least 30 civilians and left almost 200 others injured, including children. Particularly heinous was the Ukrainian strike on August 26 targeting a passenger bus in the LPR traveling from Lisichansk to Stakhanov: nine civilians were killed and six were injured. On August 22, a city bus in Sevastopol was attacked, leaving two people dead and ten injured. On August 18, a Ukrainian UAV struck a bus stop in Energodar where people were waiting for transport to take them to work: one person was killed and three were seriously wounded. And the epitome of the inhumane nature of Zelensky’s policies is the tragedy in Starobelsk, LPR, on May 22. That deliberate strike by the Ukrainian troops targeting a pedagogical college and its dormitory claimed the lives of 21 children and young people and left more than 40 people injured.
This is what Ukraine’s “reintegration” of those whom Kiev calls “Ukrainian citizens” looks like. The regime is methodically eliminating these people. And the contrast here is particularly telling: while Zelensky seeks to destroy these territories, Russia is rebuilding and developing them.
Just look at how these regions have changed since their reunification with Russia. Crimea has been transformed beyond recognition over the past twelve years. We have built the Crimean Bridge and the Tavrida Highway, modernized transport, energy and municipal infrastructure, and implemented hundreds of projects in healthcare, education, housing and road construction. Federal programs have given a powerful boost to small and medium-sized businesses, investment activity and tourism, with the peninsula welcoming millions of visitors every year. Historical and cultural monuments are being restored, cities are being improved and environmental projects are being implemented. And all this is being done despite sanctions, blockades, acts of sabotage and terrorist attacks by Kiev.
No less extensive transformations are now under way in the DPR, the LPR, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. More than 25,000 facilities have already been restored or built from scratch, including schools, hospitals, energy facilities and municipal infrastructure. More than 8,000 kilometers of roads have been repaired or constructed, including sections of the Azov Ring, which is a modern highway connecting the regions along the Sea of Azov. Almost 200 industrial enterprises have been launched, and approximately 1 million square meters of new housing have been put into use. The number of participants in the free economic zone has exceeded 500, with announced investment reaching 383 billion rubles. Most importantly, these results are being felt by the people themselves. Some 2.4 million residents are covered by federal social support measures, while more than 1.5 million people have been granted pensions under Russian standards.
This is the reality that Kiev and Western capitals prefer not to notice. Territories that for decades were developed by Ukraine on a leftover basis are today receiving entirely different development opportunities. This speaks volumes to those who persist in describing the reunification of these regions with Russia as an “occupation.”
A separate issue here is the UN Secretariat’s silence regarding Kiev’s crimes. Russia, meanwhile, is facing grave accusations without anyone bothering to provide any evidence. For four years now, we have been seeking answers from the UN Secretariat and the Secretary-General personally to our questions regarding the 2022 Bucha hoax, but in response we time and again get nothing but runarounds from him and from Volker Türk’s OHCHR. In early May, we circulated a letter from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to António Guterres containing 12 specific questions regarding the Bucha provocation. Instead of answers, we got yet another runaround from the Secretary-General.
In conclusion, we would like to stress that there can be no peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine without recognition of the realities that have taken shape on the ground. As long as Kiev continues to cling to illusions, reject the choice made by millions of people and refuse to address the root causes of the crisis, Russia will consistently pursue the objectives of the Special Military Operation by military means.
Thank you.
