Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy at UNSC briefing on the situation in Ukraine

Mr. President,

We never doubted that today our Western colleagues would produce lots of speculations as to what is going on in Ukraine in light of the Russian special military operation. Your scheme of action is clear to us. You seek to twist and besmirch the goals of the SMO, downplay the facts that are inconvenient to you, advance fakes and propaganda narrative, promoted by Ukraine and professional Western consultants who work for the Kiev regime. All your efforts meet the logic of information war that is being waged on Russia and that is not inferior to actual hostilities on the ground in terms of its intensity.

Our Albanian colleagues set a new benchmark of disinformation today. The Permanent Representative of Albania read out almost a full list of crimes that are ascribed to Russia, but did not bother to mention that neither of those cases had any credible evidence. I take it that you completely defied presumption of innocence.

Recently, Western and Ukrainian fake factory has stepped up to a new level and got down to fabrications and stagings in the best traditions of notorious Syrian-British White Helmets. Unprecedentedly cruel and “crude” provocation in the town of Bucha (Kiev region) is still on everyone’s lips. One propagates it as a Russian crime, despite irrefutable evidence that proves the staged nature of the incident, and that is getting more and more numerous. I will not go into detail here, because we already did it last Tuesday, after the British Presidency of the Security Council had done its best to not allow for a separate UNSC meeting on the topic – in violation of the Council’s basic rules of procedure.

Let me just say that when thoroughly analyzing the acts of Ukrainian nationalists, it is hard to get rid of a déjà vu feeling. Back in 1944, ideological teachers of Kievan radicals, who acted in the best traditions of Goebbels’s propaganda, organized a provocation with civilians who had allegedly been killed by Red Army soldiers in the village of Nemmersdorf in Eastern Prussia. Shortly before that, all major German newspapers had received guidelines stipulating how exactly they should present the alleged “atrocities” of Soviet soldiers.

Nowadays newspapers are not read that often, so such guidelines are first circulated in social media with no attempts made to actually conceal this fact. Those who do this commission background actors, specify aspects that should be accentuated, etc. In a word, Goebbels would have been impressed by style and scale of his Ukrainian disciples, had it not been for the quality of performance, which failed them.

Later on, various experts provided credible refutation of the Nemmersdorf case that was designed to accuse Red Army soldiers of mass murders and rapes. The name of the village then became proverbial and was widely used to designate a gross staging carried out for propaganda purposes. Exactly same thing happened recently in Bucha. But even this one was outmatched by what we saw at the end of this past week. I am referring to the provocation that Ukrainian nationalists organized in the city of Kramatorsk that was still under their control. This one was a classical “false-flag”operation. Let me speak of it in more detail, especially given that many of us already mentioned it today.

On 8 April, Ukrainian military carried out a Tochka-U air strike from the area of Dobropol’e (45 km southwest of Kramatorsk) against the Kramatorsk railway terminal, killing 50 people, including 5 children. 98 people were taken to hospitals of Kramatorsk, including 16 children, 46 women, and 36 men. Why are we so sure it were the Ukrainian and not Russian military, as Western media initially claimed and as some our colleagues said earlier today? There are several reasons, I will name three of them.

Firstly, Russian troops do not use Tochka-U tactical missile systems. They are outdated, that is why we replaced them with Iskander systems. Ukrainian troops, however, keep using Tochka-U systems very actively.

Secondly, eyewitnesses had taken some pictures on “hot scents”, before Ukrainian propaganda makers arrived on the scene. Those photos make it possible to unmistakably identify both the type of the missile and direction where it had come from. This area is so far controlled by Ukrainian military.

Thirdly, same photos let us easily identify the number of the Tochka-U, and say that it belonged to “Ш915” series. Missiles of the same series were used on many occasions to shell peaceful cities of Donbas. There are debris of those missiles displaying corresponding serial numbers.

The 19th Missile Brigade of Ukrainian armed forces used same type of projectile in their air strike against the Donetsk city center, which killed 21 residents on the spot and wounded 36 more.

Western media still present the appalling video footage of this shelling as bombardment of Kiev.

To sum up, the provocation in Kramatorsk failed. But Ukrainian propaganda experts will surely try to learn their lesson and work better next time. They do their best. Lately, we have informed the United Nations of the following provocations that they are working on.

- Staged filming of the search and opening of mass graves in Ragovka settlement of Kiev region.

- Reporters from Western media have arrived at the town of Kremyannaya. Their goal is to film a provocation organized by Ukrainian armed forces. This time it should be about Russian troops allegedly shooting at ambulances that transport patients.

- In Bilogorovka, neo-Nazis have mined chlorine tanks at a water supply plant, which they plan to blow up when LPR militia formations approach the town.

- In Irpen (Kiev region), a Bucha/Nemmersdorf-style provocation is taking place. Members of Ukraine’s Security Service plan to take bodies of civilians who were killed by an artillery bombardment from the morgue of the town hospital in Polevaya Street to a basement of one of the buildings in eastern outskirts of the town. Then a staged action with shooting and "destruction" of an alleged "Russian reconnaissance group" that arrived in Irpen "to kill witnesses of Russian war crimes" will be staged by the Security Service of Ukraine in Puscha-Voditskii forest area. At the same time, the bodies of captured Russian servicemen previously killed by nationalists under torture will be presented as "undeniable evidence". We wait for Western media to circulate video footage of this staged campaign.

As recently as today, Russian Defense Ministry reported that representatives of the Ukrainian and Western media were invited to Seredina Buda town in Sumy region, which was formerly under the control of Russian troops, to conduct staged video footage.

In Nizhnyaya Syrovatka near Sumy, bodies are being dragged into one of the basements of residential buildings. This story about “another victim” of Russian troops is directed by British “filmmakers”. I remind that Russian troops withdrew from the town three weeks ago. We receive all these reports from local residents who remain on the ground and are not indifferent to the goals of the SMO.

Besides, I cannot fail to mention reports coming from Odessa, according to which there are many Ukrainian soldiers in the city who are dressed in Russian military uniform. Apparently, another large-scale deadly provocation, or rather a false flag operation is being prepared in Odessa. Colleagues, please do not say we did not warn you.

Both past and planned provocations, coupled with the notorious practice of using civilians as a human shield startle with inhumane attitude to the future of Ukrainian people and prove that Ukrainian nationalists are in full neglect of any moral norms and rules of the international humanitarian law. As we repeatedly stated, Russia does not fight Ukrainian civil population.

Mr.President,

Since this meeting is also dedicated to the issue of women, peace, and security, I cannot but address this aspect. In respect to Ukraine, this agenda is highly politicized and imbued with provocations. We clearly see an intention to present Russian soldiers as sadists and rapists – in the same manner as one tried to present Soviet winner-warriors of WW2 as sadists and rapists back in the day. Neither goals, nor the Russophobic sentiment of Ukraine’s inherited propaganda playbooks have changed.

However reality proves otherwise. Despite all tricks, truth about heinous tortures of civilians (including women and children) by sadists from Ukrainian nationalist battalions sometimes does get through to Western audience.

Take primary school 18 of Mariupol, that was long held by Azov Nazi battalion. Even seen-it-all military were shocked by what they saw there – a dismembered dead body of a woman on the floor in the basement, hands severed off, face disfigured, swastika sign branded onto the belly. Remarkably, from time to time Ukraine and the West attempt to present this terrifying photo evidence, which has already been published, as evidence of crimes committed by Russians.

Mr.President,

Nationalists have been consistently working on the Ukrainian society for at least 8 years. That is why unfortunately, Ukrainian women sometimes assume rather strange, I would say even wildish image. This is best illustrated by a patriotic reel that is being actively promoted on social media. It features a famous actress from Western Ukraine cutting the throat of a tortured Russian soldier with a sickle. In the background, patriotic mottos, as well as curses can be heard. The only thing this may be connoted with is ISIL spreading video footage that depicted terrorists cutting throats of their victims.

It is very unfortunate that Ukraine resorted to this limitless ruthlessness, to blind extremism and radicalism that keeps abreast with that demonstrated by ISIL. When seeing this, one but makes sure that Russia’s special military operation was really needed and had no alternative. The SMO is needed for the sake of Ukraine’s future, for the sake of security of Russia and other its neighbors. I doubt that peaceful Poles can feel safe when organizers of Wołyń massacre that killed dozens of thousands of their fellow citizens back in 1943 are cherished in present-day Ukraine as national heroes. I am speaking about peaceful Poles rather than Polish authorities, blinded by Russophobia, whose policy has long lost any common sense.

Mr.President,

Let me finish my statement by making a more optimistic point. There is another Ukraine that is getting through our SMO a new chance to peaceful life and good neighborly relations.

This Ukraine has its symbols, among them women. For example, there is a video clip that went viral on social media and seems to have touched everyone’s feelings. I mean the video made by Ukrainian troops when they entered one of the villages. There was a very old lady who stepped forth to greet them. Having mistaken them for Russians, she welcomed them with red Soviet Victory Banner in her hands. She spoke words of kindness to them and said how long she had waited to be liberated. Ukrainian soldiers, and we must do them justice for that, make no wrong to the old lady and give her a parcel with produce, but in return they take the banner from her and start trampling it with their boots. Then the lady, who had realized her mistake, demonstratively returned the parcel to them and demanded her banner back – the banner for which her parents had fought. The video stops here.

I would very much want to believe that nothing bad happened to the lady afterwards. Her courage and resolve have inspired many people. I would also want to believe that she will see the moment of liberation and will be able to take the red banner on Victory Day, which is a sacred holiday to all of us, and honor the memory of her parents and all those who liberated Ukraine from Nazis, without fearing that someone might trample on it.

Thank you.