Madame President,
Thank you for the opportunity to make this statement to the Security Council on behalf of Estonia, Latvia, and my own country Lithuania. I also would like to thank Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo, Ms. Kateryna Rashevska and Mr. Mykola Kuleba for their briefings.
Madame President,
As we congratulate Ukraine on its Independence Day today, we continue to witness ongoing Russia’s aggression aimed at taking this independence away, deliberate attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. Destruction of civilian and critical infrastructure deprive the people of access to water and food, heating, health and other essential services, destroy livelihoods of entire families, particularly affecting children, women and the elderly. Yet another heinous Russia’s attack on civilians in Chernihiv killed seven people, including a six-year-old girl Sophia Holynska and wounded 144 people, among them people celebrating an Orthodox Christian holiday.
Children are particular victims of this war: according to office of the UN Human Rights Commissioner, up to August 541 have been killed, 1,139 injured. Many more are forced to flee their homes, lost their families and friends, are unable to attend school or receive proper medical care. Since the beginning of Russian aggression millions of children and their caregivers have been exposed to hostilities along the frontlines and missile strikes in the cities. At least 3, 281 education institutions have been impacted by fighting, with 262 destroyed and 3,019 damaged, 54 percent of them in the eastern frontline areas. The psychological effects of the war trauma on children will have far reaching consequences in the future. For these cruel acts Russia was added to the list of parties committing grave violence against children by the UN Secretary General.
Madame President,
The situation of Ukrainian children forcefully deported to Russia and Belarus, subjected to pro-Russia re-education and militarization training, turned into Russian citizens and illegally adopted, deserves our immediate attention. We must ensure the children’s repatriation and accountability of perpetrators. The ICC arrest warrants issued for Russia’s President Putin and ombudswoman Lvova-Belova is the first step in the right direction and we encourage continued international scrutiny to ensure full accountability and repatriation of the children.
Madame President,
We welcome recent signing of Ukraine and UN joint preventive plan to prevent and stop grave violations of children's rights in Russia's armed aggression. I also would like to thank the UN agencies for their assistance efforts. According to the recent reports there are over 17,6 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, of these 4.1 million are children. The needs for assistance are significant and we all must contribute to close remaining financial gaps and allow the UN and international assistance to reach all those in need.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), there are an estimated 5.1 million internally displaced persons within Ukraine, many Ukrainian refugees abroad. More than 4 million of Ukrainians have sought shelter in the EU, including over 100 000 in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Only in Lithuania’s schools there are over 8000 pupils form Ukraine, whom our Government provides all necessary assistance with their schooling needs.
Russia continues to destroy living-houses, hospitals and other healthcare establishments, schools and nurseries – all clearly civilian infrastructure. Russian military strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has led to power outages that affect Ukrainian agricultural sector, interrupts water networks and denies access to essential services, such as health and education. The destruction of Kakhovka Dam on 6 June caused an unprecedented ecological catastrophe, further deepening civilian suffering. Over 200 000 people in flood-affected areas rely on water distribution due to water contamination or drop of water levels in the reservoirs.
Madame President,
Russia’s war of aggression, enabled by Belarus, is a manifest violation of the UN Charter. Moreover, by abusing its veto power as a Security Council permanent member, Russia has rendered the Council paralysed to act. The international community has a responsibility to ensure full accountability of the perpetrators of atrocity crimes in order to bring sustainable peace, justice to the victims, and prevent the recurrence of such crimes anywhere in the world in the future. That is why need to support Ukraine in establishing a Special international tribunal for the crime of aggression
I thank you.