Ukarainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday said that the international body should expel Russia or dissolve itself. He further addressed the ‘war crimes’ Moscow had committed in areas around capital Kyiv, urging UN to act soon.
Zelensky in his address, referred to Russia as the aggressor. He cited the Article 1, Chapter 1 of the UN Charter that explains the purpose of the body. He questioned that if the United Nations cannot maintain peace, it should probably dissolve itself.
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“Either remove Russia as the aggressor or, if you can’t do anything, then dissolve yourself as an entity,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the UNSC.
He further added that Russia needs to be removed from the Security Council “so it can not block decisions about its own aggression”.
“The world has yet to see what has happened in other occupied cities and regions of our country. There are many more cities, similar places where the world has yet to learn the full truth,” Zelensky said.
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Ukrainian officials had said that bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in towns around Kyiv that were recaptured from Russian forces.
The Ukrainian leader made his plea via video as grisly evidence continued to emerge of civilian massacres carried out by Russian forces on the outskirts of Kyiv before they pulled back from the capital.
The images, particularly from the town of Bucha, have stirred global revulsion and led to demands for tougher sanctions and war crime charges.
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“The Russian military surge and purposefully killed anyone who served our country. They shot and killed women outside their houses when they just tried to call someone who is alive. They killed entire families, adults and children, and they tried to burn the bodies. I am addressing you on behalf of the people who honor the memory of the deceased every single day and the memory of the civilians who died, they were shot and killed in the back of their head after being tortured. Some of them were shot on the streets,” the Ukrainian President said.