Statement by Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Anna Evstigneeva at a UNSC Briefing on Ukraine
Mr. President,
Russia supported the convening of this emergency Security Council meeting, which was requested by our Belarusian colleagues following the Ukrainian UAV attack on June 17 in the Bryansk Region targeting a civilian bus carrying children from Belarusian sports schools to vacation in Gelendzhik.
We would like to express our sincere condolences and words of support to Valentin Rybakov, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Belarus to the United Nations, and, through him, to the entire Belarusian people and to all those wounded; we wish them a speedy recovery.
There were 44 people on the bus, including 28 students from Children’s and Youth Sports School No. 2 of the Belarusian city of Rechitsa. The attack claimed the life of a pregnant woman accompanying the group – a native of Lugansk and mother of two. Nine other people, including six minors, were injured. According to the driver, several UAVs were circling above the bus before the attack. Colleagues, this was not a strike targeting a military object “with consequences for civilians” nor was it an “accidental hit,” but rather a deliberate action by a drone operator who perfectly realized what the target was. This was clearly an act of terrorism against civilians, which is precisely how the Investigation Committee of the Russian Federation has qualified this crime when opening a criminal case. A criminal case has likewise been initiated by the Investigative Committee of Belarus, whose investigators were dispatched to the site of the attack.
Following a well-worn pattern, the Kiev authorities, as usual, attempted to pin all the blame for this crime on our country, calling what happened a “provocation” or an “propaganda campaign” that allegedly benefited Russia. However, these insinuations do not hold water and can easily be shattered by irrefutable facts.
Numerous pieces of evidence found at the scene of the attack confirm that the drone belonged to Ukraine. The investigation established the involvement in this attack of Robert Brovdi (call sign “Madyar”), commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, and Oleg Ivashchenko, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. They provided target designation and gave the order to hit the children. The direct executors have also been identified. They are Dmitry Tkachenko, a serviceman of the “Chimera” unmanned systems unit of the 105th Border Detachment of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine; Igor Zhukov, a serviceman of the "Shkval" Rapid Response Border Commandant's Office operating as part of the 7th Carpathian Border Detachment of the State Border Service of Ukraine; Vladislav Naum, a serviceman of the 73rd Naval Special Operations Centre of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Robert Brovdi, Oleg Ivashchenko, Dmitry Tkachenko, Igor Zhukov, and Vladislav Naum have been charged under Part 3 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (terrorist act resulting in loss of life). All five individuals have been placed on an international wanted list. Other alleged accomplices are still being established.
We are disappointed by the fact that the UN Secretariat lacks the courage and integrity to call a spade a spade and name the Kiev regime the culprit behind the tragedy in the Bryansk Region and behind other heinous crimes. Instead, what we hear from international officials are the same hackneyed “toothless” comments about the unacceptability of attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure. These generalized remarks, in our view, serve merely as a smokescreen for political cowardice and a reluctance to acknowledge Zelensky’s crimes, even when children are the victims. At the same time, any unsubstantiated accusations against our country are being picked up by the UN Secretariat instantly and without the necessary “verification.”
We demand that the Secretary-General, the Secretariat, and the specialized UN bodies unequivocally condemn these bloody crimes. Ignoring targeted strikes by the Kiev regime, which have resulted in numerous child casualties, is eloquent proof of double standards that grossly violate Article 100 of the UN Charter. This makes the Kiev authorities believe that they enjoy immunity and are allowed to indulge in further terrorist ambitions. Similarly, we call on all responsible governments to give a clear assessment of this and many other atrocities committed by Ukrainian neo-Nazis and to condemn them publicly.
Mr. President,
This crime committed by the Zelensky regime is not just yet another instance of terror against civilians perpetrated by the Ukrainian army. It is a manifestation of the regime’s terrorist nature. The strikes on a dormitory in Starobelsk, on a civilian bus carrying civilians in Yenakiyevo, and children in the Bryansk Region demonstrate that the Kiev regime will stop at nothing: any person, including a child, who happens to be on the territory of Russia or passing through it automatically becomes a target for elimination. This regime made war crimes an integral part of its military strategy; they are “hunting” civilians down and attacking medical personnel and emergency workers who are assisting the wounded and dealing with the aftermath of terrorist attacks. Its cynicism and inhumane nature can also be vividly seen in the increased number of deliberate strikes on educational institutions and “child-related” infrastructure, particularly during the spring and summer months, when schools are holding exams, sports competitions, graduation ceremonies, and other events attended by large numbers of children.
When Western countries invoke international humanitarian law, colleagues, bear in mind that for the Nazi acolytes such actions have long become the norm, and international humanitarian law simply does not exist for them; these very people are now openly glorifying the murderers of millions of Jews, Poles, and Russians and elevate them to the status of heroes.
The Zelensky regime is now more than ever seeking to demonstrate what it portrays as military successes by the Ukrainian army in order to secure a continued flow of Western weapons and billions in financial assistance, which, in our view, primarily benefits the cabal entrenched in Kiev. At the same time, for the Western backers of the Kiev regime, this support has become beneficial not only geopolitically but also commercially. In reality, there are no successes on the battlefield, while the regime's ability to replenish the ranks of the Ukrainian army through mobilization continues to diminish. As a result, the narrative being crafted in the media is being fed solely by Ukrainian drone attacks against civilian targets rather than by developments on the front line.
The fact that the drone strike on children in the Bryansk Region was a premeditated PR stunt carried out at the cost of human life is also evidenced by the contacts with the so-called Belarusian opposition in exile, which intensified almost simultaneously, in a demonstrative and brazen manner. Moreover, a few days after the tragedy, Zelensky issued a crude and aggressive ultimatum to Minsk, which was followed by threats that, if his demands are not met, Kiev “would be compelled to put things right on its own.” However, just a few days later, the Ukrainian leader hastily backtracked, which once again demonstrates the limited credibility of his ultimatums. Colleagues, this is not even megaphone diplomacy any longer: it is crude blackmail aimed at dragging a sovereign State – the Republic of Belarus – into the conflict.
Kiev’s rhetoric about “defending Europe” from Russia is nothing other than a smokescreen meant to drag out the conflict, continue hostilities “until the last Ukrainian,” and draw NATO into a direct confrontation with Moscow. Does anyone still doubt that the true intent of the Kiev leader is to artificially expand the conflict’s geographic scope to the territory of Belarus, Poland, and the Baltic States? He is playing with fire, and it is high time for European countries to realize that their protégé has basically “broken free from the leash.” We also note that today, unlike at the meeting convened by Ukraine on May 28, António Guterres did not appear before the UN Security Council to say how worried he is about the potential conflict spreading. This, apparently, speaks volumes about how candid he is, how alarmed by the current situation and how impartial he is.
Mr. President,
Between June 15 and 21, 296 civilians were impacted by shelling by the Ukrainian army: 47 people were killed, including one child, 250 civilians were wounded, including 20 minors. Militants of the Kiev regime fired nearly 5,000 rounds of munition at civilian targets on Russian territory. As a result of strikes on Moscow and the Moscow Region, an 8-year-old girl died and 23 civilians were injured. In Zhukovsky, a drone hit an apartment building, destroying the balcony slabs on the upper floors. Let me reiterate, these were not strikes against military objects, but rather against a densely populated city and its suburbs.
Furthermore, we are seriously concerned about the sharp increase in terrorist attacks targeting the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and the satellite city of Energodar. As a result of a Ukrainian drone strike on the plant’s maintenance workshop, one person was killed and another was seriously injured. Meanwhile, the ZNPP’s transport unit came under a massive drone attack, with at least 14 drone strikes targeting the facility. The attack caused a fire and inflicted significant damage on the buildings in the maintenance area. There can be no doubt that these strikes were intended to disrupt the operations of Europe’s largest nuclear facility and constitute yet another attempt by Kiev to exert pressure on the region by threatening a nuclear catastrophe.
The Western backers of the Kiev regime are fully aware that the weapons they supply are not being used to “defend democracy,” but rather to hit civilians and civilian targets. Yet, this inconvenient truth does not trouble them: new shipments of weaponry are being sent to Kiev on a regular basis, while talks of protecting Ukraine’s territorial integrity routinely serve as a cover for their own complicity.
On June 18, NATO headquarters in Brussels hosted the latest anti-Russian meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), or the Ramstein group, which was co-chaired by the United Kingdom and Germany. The meeting focused on new shipments of air defense systems, ammunition, long-range weapons, and drones for the Ukrainian army.
Germany has once again emerged as one of the most generous donors to the Kiev regime, announcing its willingness to allocate $400 million for the purchase of US-made weapons and Patriot missiles. The UK intends to channel £752 million from seized Russian assets toward the production of drones and the delivery of more than 350 air defense missiles and radars. The Netherlands is set to contribute a further €500 million for drones and air defense systems, while Belgium has pledged to deliver its first seven F-16s to Kiev in 2026. This is what you call the Western “peace agenda,” this is how it looks in practice: billions go to arms corporations, with missiles and drones going to the Kiev regime.
In this very chamber, representatives of Western countries invariably preach the need for a ceasefire, portraying themselves as paragons of peace. Within the UN, such rhetoric is perfectly appropriate, as it is precisely these kinds of messages that most non-Western States expect to hear. After all, Western States are highly unlikely to tout their efforts to supply the Kiev regime with weapons nor boast about their defense industry and their preparations for war with Russia. If they do so, they will have to answer uncomfortable questions: Why are most humanitarian appeals around the world chronically underfunded then? Why are resources for peacekeeping and development aid being cut, while drone technologies continue to expand and Ukrainian drone operators are spreading across the globe? But let us not think that representatives of other countries are fools. The truth is impossible to hide.
All these multi-billion-dollar injections into the hostilities in Ukraine definitively expose Europe’s true colors: European countries are not mediators, but the main sponsors of the continued war who tend to resort to the language of ultimatums, threats, and political blackmail when talking to Russia.
Now I wish to address the Western members of the Council, whose countries manufacture weapons, including long-range strike systems, and supply them to the Zelensky regime, which then uses these weapons in targeted strikes against civilians. By stubbornly and recklessly pumping Ukraine with weapons, you have long since become complicit in its numerous crimes. You bear direct political and moral responsibility for them. Russia does not accept ultimatums, we do not succumb to pressure, and we will not allow decisions to be imposed on us if these decisions run counter to our fundamental national security interests.
The current situation once again proves that our special military operation is justified, as it is intended to put an end to the neo-Nazi regime, which has been shamelessly shelling Donbass for eight years and is now terrorizing the entire population of Ukraine, particularly the Russian-speaking community.
Under these circumstances, we will continue striking military facilities in Ukraine. Thus, from June 20 to 26, in response to terrorist attacks on civilian objects on Russian soil, the Russian Armed Forces carried out five coordinated strikes against military targets and infrastructure used by the Ukrainian army. Among our targets were facilities of the defense-industrial complex, fuel and energy infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, ammunition and fuel depots, warehouses for long-range UAVs, as well as temporary deployment sites for Ukrainian units and foreign mercenaries. In addition, on the night of June 26, there was a group strike using high-precision weapons and long-range UAVs, which hit a territorial recruitment center and warehouses with weaponry in Kiev, as well as an oil refinery in Kremenchug, Poltava Oblast. On the battlefield, the Russian Armed Forces also firmly hold the initiative.
Mr. President,
Of course, we would prefer to attain the goals of the special military operation through political and diplomatic means. However, at present, there are no viable solutions on the table that take due account of Russia’s legitimate interests. So far, Western countries have been invariably seeking to inflict a strategic defeat on us and hinder our country’s development. As long as it remains the case, Russia will continue to counter these attempts by military means. Make no mistake, we do have sufficient capabilities, resources, and political will to do so.
Thank you.
