Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Briefing on Ukraine
Main statement:
Mr. President,
We thank the countries that convened this meeting for giving us yet another opportunity to draw the attention of the international community to what happened on May 22. Of course, this was not the goal of yours – rather, you sought to divert focus from the tragedy in Starobelsk. And at last Friday’s meeting, a number of Security Council members shamelessly cited a lack of information.
In the early hours of May 22, the Kiev regime once again revealed its terrorist nature by inflicting a barbaric, targeted strike on the Starobelsk Pedagogical College and its dormitory, using 16 UAVs. This tragedy claimed the lives of 21 people, mostly girls, and left 44 others wounded.
If anyone in this chamber still has doubts or is unfamiliar with the consequences of the strike on Starobelsk, we recommend that you watch the video footage that we showed during our press conference on May 26. Over 50 journalists from 19 countries visited the scene of the tragedy at the invitation of Russia and personally verified the facts. No matter how hard Kiev is trying to justify itself, no matter how hard the mainstream Western media are trying to sweep under the rug what happened, the May 22 tragedy is nothing but a cynical act of terrorism. This massacre of children reflects the brutality of the Kiev regime, which can only be compared to what the Nazis and their accomplices did during World War II, mercilessly exterminating the civilian population.
What is particularly striking is the hypocrisy and cynicism of the European delegations. They rush to level accusations against Russia whenever it is politically expedient for them, yet in this case, they have chosen to essentially ignore the tragedy, pinning all the blame on Moscow. We were not surprised then, and we are not surprised now. How can they be compassionate if they have the blood of the children of Starobelsk on their hands? After all, these countries have been supplying Zelensky’s terrorist regime with money, intelligence, weapons, and ammunition for many years, egging Zelensky on to enable new crimes against civilians, and subsequently covering for him by portraying Ukraine as a victim. The UN Secretariat, which acts so swiftly in some cases, has unfortunately once again retreated into generalized remarks and vague language, avoiding any direct assessments of Kiev’s actions. They, allegedly, have no access to the site of the tragedy, and in no way can they verify the information. We have repeatedly stated that UN representatives are allowed to visit the DPR, the LPR, the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions via Russian territory; however, UN officials do not pursue these opportunities. Why is the UN Secretariat so prompt to find words when there is a need to support the Western version of events, while struggling so badly to find the right expressions when it comes to calling the Ukrainian attack on children a crime? Why do some victims deserve immediate compassion, while others do not? Why does the death of minors in one place warrant loud statements and condemnations, whereas the death of children in Starobelsk is met with silence? Here we have yet another glaring manifestation of the West’s “double standards” and hypocrisy.
However, this act of terror could not and did not go unpunished.
Mr. President,
On May 24, the Russian Armed Forces launched a massive attack targeting military command and control facilities, air bases, and enterprises of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, using Oreshnik, Iskander, Kinzhal, and Zircon missiles, as well as airborne, naval, and ground-based cruise missiles and attack drones. Among the targets hit in Kiev and the Kiev region were facilities of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, military infrastructure, command posts of the General Staff of the Ground Forces, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, and other command posts of Ukraine’s armed forces. Strikes on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine were neither planned nor executed.
This reprisal strike targeting the Ukrainian capital is a direct consequence of the deliberate steps by Zelensky and his backers to stoke the conflict. With the tacit approval of its Western accomplices, the Kiev regime has embraced terrorism as a tool of warfare, but Russia is not going to tolerate, nor leave unanswered any act of terror targeting our civilians. All the more so because the cynical terrorist attack in Starobelsk is by no means an isolated incident. In the past week alone, 51 civilians were killed and another 199 people, including 20 children, were wounded as a result of attacks by militants of the Kiev regime. These are not mere statistics, but human lives: lives of women, children, and the elderly. During the same period, over 4,300 rounds of munitions were fired on civilian targets within Russia, including on residential neighborhoods, schools, and hospitals, with Moscow and surroundings also affected.
I would also like to stress that, under the current circumstances, the Russian Armed Forces continue to carry out systematic strikes targeting the Ukrainian military-industrial complex in Kiev, including the facilities involved in designing, manufacturing, programming and preparing drones for operation, with the Kiev regime using these drones with the assistance of NATO specialists, who supply components and provide intelligence and target acquisition data. We will hit both decision-making centers and command posts. Since the aforementioned facilities are dispersed throughout Kiev, we have warned foreign citizens, including the staff of diplomatic missions and offices of international organizations, that they need to leave the city as soon as possible. We also urged residents of the Ukrainian capital not to approach the military and administrative infrastructure having to do with the Zelensky regime.
Let us reiterate what we have said many times before: our armed forces do not target civilians or civilian infrastructure. We only hit targets related to military command and control, manufacturing of weapons, deployment of military equipment, logistics, energy supply for the military machinery, and infrastructure used in the interests of Ukrainian armed formations.
Mr. President,
The events of the past week have shown very eloquently that neither the leader of the Kiev regime nor its patrons are willing to engage in a substantive dialogue with our country on the prospects for a peaceful settlement; on the contrary, they are doing everything to fuel the conflict. The trite appeals for an unconditional ceasefire merely provide cover for Kiev’s ongoing terror. Thereby the so-called leaders of Europe are only indulging Zelensky’s already reckless and suicidal behavior. The tone of their comments leaves no doubt that they have written Ukraine off, definitively and irrevocably, trying once again to buy time for their insane preparations for supposed war with Russia. They appear ready to continue squeezing the maximum out of this long-suffering country, using it to wage war against Russia “to the last Ukrainian.”
At the same time, in order to avoid accountability for the evil and chaos they are sow, these cynical “beacons of democracy,” have resorted to utterly demonizing and vilifying Russia. The Western propaganda machine is working tirelessly to shift the blame for what has been done in Ukraine by “civilized” states onto our country. Let me be clear: they will not get away with this. They will certainly bear responsibility for their insane and predatory actions against both Russia and Ukraine. It is obvious that without military pressure, no calls for real diplomacy will work. Our armed forces will continue to pursue the goals of the special military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine until the security threats emanating from this country are eliminated once and for all.
Thank you.
Right of reply:
Mr. President,
I always listen very carefully to the Ukrainian Permanent Representative, even when I’m using my smartphone – which I use not for video games, but for my professional purposes. I don’t think he could accuse me of the opposite. I am always present when he is taking the floor. I cannot say that it gives me great pleasure to listen to him, but nevertheless, I never leave the chamber until I have heard his statement.
But all this is not about sarcasm and irony that imbued the remarks by the Ukrainian Permanent Representative. The thing is that it looked like a feeble attempt to justify what happened on the night of May 22 in Starobelsk. Please note: the Ukrainian Permanent Representative did not deny the fact that people died there. But his line of defense was that they were not children, but adults. That’s a completely different thing, isn’t it?
But his claims about the fabricated nature of the narrative regarding the burning of 45 people in Odessa in May 2014 – well, that’s beyond the pale.
The Ukrainian Permanent Representative loves Russian sayings. Let me use one myself. It all looked just like the Russian proverb says: “God marks the crook.”
No juggling of numbers can negate this impression.
We are not in direct communication with the Ukrainian Permanent Representative, although I can send him a letter directly where I will share the facts of what actually happened in Starobelsk, along with the testimonies of those who witnessed it firsthand.
But if he is not prepared to accept such a letter from me, I will make sure that he will receive such a letter through other channels – that is, through the mechanisms provided for in both the Security Council and the General Assembly. Please await a response from us.
Thank you.
