Remarks to the press by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia with regard to the missile attack on Sevastopol
Vassily Nebenzia: Yesterday, on 23 June, during the great Orthodox feast of Pentecost, the Saint Trinity, Kiev regime supported by the US carried out a heinous attack against civilians in the Russian city of Sevastopol in Crimea.
Ukraine launched five US-supplied ATACMS missiles armed with cluster munitions. All flight missions were introduced by the US experts based on the US satellite intelligence. An American Global Hawk UAV was patrolling the airspace over the Crimean peninsula.
The beach area packed with peaceful citizens enjoying their weekend and Orthodox holiday was hit. Fire came from the sky on unprotected people who had nowhere to hide. Sand turned into blood. The video footage from the scene is just shocking.
151 persons were injured, among them 27 children. 4 people died, including 2 children. They will never have a chance to enjoy a summer day again.
The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federations has started to investigate this heinous crime. All responsible for this and other terrorist attacks will be held accountable.
The fact that the US is directly involved in this crime is beyond any doubt. Washington and its allies foster a Neo-Nazi regime in Kiev and encourage their puppets in Kiev to commit terrorist acts against civilians. Recently the NATO countries gave the Kiev regime a green light to conduct strikes deep into the Russian territory.
We are not surprised that Western media keep silent about this tragedy. The lives of the Russian civilians are of no interest to them. The lack of any meaningful response from the UN Secretariat that is supposed to stand against such obvious crimes and violations of international law is even more regretful.
It is a clear example of double standards of the UN Secretariat who is very eloquent on other occasions. But when it comes to the killings of the Russian civilians, the only reaction of the Secretariat was that they “want all sides to take steps to avoid civilian casualties” and that they “seek an end to the war in line with the UN Charter and GA resolutions”. No condemnation, no regret, not even sympathy. This is not enough. This is an illustration of bias and hypocrisy of the UN Secretariat trying to shy away from calling a spade a spade – that the crimes committed by the Kiev regime are inadmissible and that the NATO members are an accomplice in these crimes. I will not go into the origins of this crisis or its genesis. We spoke about it (namely who started it and when) many times during the Security Council briefings. I will just give you a few quotes on how the Secretariat treats what is happening in Ukraine and how it treats what is happening in Russia.
January 16, 2023. “Turning to Ukraine, our colleagues on the ground are telling us that the civilians across the country faced a grim weekend with air strikes having killed and injured dozens of civilians. Homes, schools, and hospitals were also damaged in different parts of the country. A strike hit a residential building in Dnipro on Saturday evening in one of the deadliest attacks in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion last February. The Secretary-General condemned this attack, saying that was another example of a suspected violation of the laws of the war. The humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, condemned the immense civilian toll of the attack by the Russian Federation armed forces and called for an effective investigation of suspected war crimes and the proper prosecution of suspects”.
July 23, 2023. “In a statement we issued yesterday, the Secretary-General strongly condemned the Russian missile attack on Odessa … The Secretary-General urges the Russian Federation to immediately seize attacks against cultural property, protected by widely ratified international normative instruments”
March 22, 2024. “The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms today's large-scale missile and drone attacks by the Russian Federation on Ukrainian cities and towns across the country. They are unacceptable and must end immediately”.
March 10, 2024. “The UN team knows that Russia's ongoing invasion has caused immense human suffering and widespread devastation”.
May 23, 2024. “And staying on Ukraine. Today in Ukraine, Denise Brown, whom you know, leads the UN's effort in Ukraine, condemn the deadly attacks on Kharkov city, which followed two weeks of attacks on the region”
And when it happens in Russia, listen to this.
February 15, 2024. “We have also seen reports of a missile strikes on the Russian city of Belgorod. And we reiterate one more time that the attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international humanitarian law, unacceptable and must stop immediately”.
April 13, 2024. “We have no particular details of this, but we've the reports”. That's about the Palestinian journalists.
April 16, 2024. “The IAEA has a very clear and technical mandate, right? It is one on having to do with nuclear power plants and nuclear energy. The inspectors have a role there. We do not have the forensic capability of reporting on these strikes, nor does the IAEA … We do not have the forensic capability, nor do we have the investigative mandate of that bit.”
On killing of the Russian NTV station journalist, “We stand opposed to all attacks on media wherever they are. Media need to be free to go about their work without harm done to them or any other hindrance”.
And finally, June 22, 2024, on Sevastopol. “We want all sides to take steps to avoid civilian casualties. As always, we seek an end to the war in line with the UN Charter and GA resolutions”.
I hope you notice the difference in the tone and the way the events are being presented by the Secretariat.
The US Ambassador in Moscow was called today to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a demarche on this abhorrent crime where Washington is directly involved not only by supplying the missiles but also fully controlling their flight missions.
The strike targeting civilians in Sevastopol will not go unanswered. There will be measures in response. The Russian Federation will continue to protect its people and its national security until no threat is posed by the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev that was bred, raised, and financed by the West.
June 24 is the mourning day in the city of Sevastopol. We mourn together with Sevastopol and its people. Our sympathy goes to the families of the victims. We wish a speedy recovery to the injured.
Q: The Secretary-General has repeatedly accused the Russian Federation of violating the United Nations Charter by invading Ukraine in February 2022. My question is how do you respond to that and how concerned are you that this latest escalation could lead to a much wider conflict, as some analysts have been worrying about?
A: We've been explaining the reasons why we started the special military operation many times over. We were saying many times over that the conflict didn't start in February 2022. The conflict started much earlier. It started in 2014 with the coup d’état in Kiev, and with Ukraine conducting a so-called anti-terrorist operation against its own population in Donbas. They were shelling Donbas for eight years with the tacit approval of their Western sponsors. Nobody cared at all what was happening. Finally, when we decided to put an end to it, everybody went out to speak. We said it many times, and I will repeat that we didn't start this war, we came to end it.
In what regards the potential escalation of the crisis, yes, we hear what is being said in the West. Recent actions by the West when they permitted Kiev to attack targets inside the Russian territory; their missions; their personnel, including military personnel that helps in directing Ukrainians and operating the weapon systems that they supply – these are steps that definitely lead to an escalation. They talk about Russia preparing to invade Western Europe, which is, of course, a complete nonsense. It's not us who is escalating. You know that President Putin came up with an initiative based on the realities on the ground. It was flatly rejected by the West and Ukrainians. But the further the conflict goes, the worse the conditions that we will offer to the Ukrainians. They have to realize it. They and their Western sponsors.
Q: What are you hoping will happen at the Security Council after Sunday's attack? Are you hoping to take something at the Security Council? And what action would you ideally like to see?
A: I think that will be raised during another regular briefing on Ukraine that will definitely follow in July, like we do every month. You know that our policy is that if our former Western friends request a meeting, we do reciprocate. But we will not hesitate to speak about what is happening, either done by the Kiev regime sponsored by the West, or by what they are doing now in the financial area, trying to steal the Russian money and give it to Kiev, which is a complete shame from the countries that proclaim to be the guardians of international law.
Q: Ambassador, you particularly mentioned that it's US-supplied weapons that led to the deaths of five civilians. Have you talked to your US counterpart on this? And what do you think the supply of weapons to Ukraine would do to the whole crisis in Ukraine?
A: It will definitely not help end the crisis. The more weapons they supply, the stronger the response. No F-16s will help the Ukrainians like they are hoping for. Like all those Leopards, Abrams tanks, and whatever never helped them because most of them, those that went to the battlefield, remained there forever.
Q: Have you talked to your US counterpart on this issue?
A: We talk during the briefings, but I don't think they are receptive. They continue with their own mantras about what is happening without trying to analyze deeper.
Q: What about the accusation from your Western colleagues on the supply of DPRK weapons?
A: We commented it many times. They never provided any material evidence. They just talk about it.
Q: I have two questions. First, about the double standard. The double standards. Do you see the same double standard in Gaza? When one Palestinian attack an Israeli, then they condemn it in the strongest term. But when a whole population is being obliterated, then they are careful, they express concern. Even the SG today called only for humanitarian ceasefire. He still did not call for full-fledged comprehensive ceasefire. Do you see that double standard?
A: Of course, these are clear double standards which the world watches live in the Security Council. For us, that's been obvious not even with the start of the crisis in Gaza, but with other crises that happened before it as well, Ukraine included.
Q: Do you see that the war in Gaza and the war in Ukraine is a similar battle? And if the West US-led hegemony could come to an end if they lose both battles in Gaza and in Ukraine?
A: They are similar in the sense that they are both about US hegemony, yes, indeed. But they differ in nature and in genesis. I wouldn't compare what's happening in the conflict in Ukraine with what's happening in Gaza, where, as you rightly said, the whole people is being obliterated, and that's clear to everyone who watches it.
Q: We know that the purpose of this special military operation is killing, raping, and pillage. Do you think Russia succeeds in fulfilling these aims?
A: That's for you to consider. Let's see where the front is. Regarding raping, killing, abducting (which is another favorite theme from our Western and Ukrainian colleagues), this is not just a war on the battlefield, this is mainly an information war. And this war, of course, the West and Ukraine (with the help of the West) is winning so far. You have to recognize that we do not deliberately target any civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, but only the infrastructure that relates to the military-industrial complex of Ukraine. We do not bomb cities and we do not bomb civilians. That's it. We are not doing what Israel is doing in Gaza.
Q: I wanted to get your reaction to the US announcing this afternoon they're going to send another $150 million worth of munitions to Ukraine to fight Russia? Can I get your reaction to that?
A: The reaction was always similar. As many as they sent, that won't help on the battlefield. It is being proven by what is happening on the ground. You see it yourself.
Thank you.
