NEW YORK: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the United Nations Security Council that “accountability must be inevitable” for Russia as he accused Russian troops of committing “the most terrible war crimes” since World War Two.
Zelenskiy showed a short video of burned, bloodied and mutilated bodies, including children, in Irpin, Dymerka, Mariupol and Bucha. He questioned the value of the 15-member UN Security Council, which has been unable to take any action over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine because Moscow has a veto power.
“We are dealing with a state that turns its veto at the UN security council into the right to (cause) death,” Zelenskiy said in a live video address, urging reform of the world body. “Russia wants to turn Ukraine into silent slaves.”
Russia has a veto which it has repeatedly wielded to block resolutions and negotiations on the global stage. “If there is no alternative and no option, then the next option would be dissolve yourself altogether,” Zelensky continued.
The United Nations could be “simply closed,” he said. “Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to close the UN? And the time of international law is gone? If your answer is no, then you need to act immediately.”
Zelensky gave a chilling rendition of the atrocities he said were carried out by Russian troops against civilians in Bucha, a town outside the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, and aired the graphic video showing dead bodies, including several children.
READ MORE: Russia denies allegations of killing civilians in Ukrainian towns
“They were killed in their apartments, houses, blowing up grenades, civilians were crushed by tanks while sitting in their cars in the middle of the road, just for their pleasure. They cut off limbs… slashed their throats,” he said. “Women were raped and killed in front of their children, their tongues were pulled out only because the aggressors did not hear what they wanted to hear from them.
“So this is no different from other terrorists such as Daesh who occupied some territory, and here it is done by a member of the United Nations Security Council,” he said, using another acronym for the Islamic State group. “Accountability must be inevitable,” he said, adding that “hundreds of thousands” of Ukrainians had also been deported to Russia.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the meeting by warning of the global fallout from the conflict, with soaring food, energy and fertilizer prices affecting up to 1.2 billion people in 74 countries. “We are already seeing some countries move from vulnerability into crisis, and signs of serious social unrest,” he added.
“The war in Ukraine must stop — now,” Guterres told the Council, after calling it “one of the greatest challenges ever to the international order. We need serious negotiations for peace, based on the principles of the United Nations Charter,” he said.
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council: “We’ve heard once again a huge amount of lies about Russian soldiers and military.” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said at least 1,430 civilians have been killed, including more than 121 children. “We know this is likely a serious underestimate,” he added.
