Statement by Mr Olegs Iļģis, Chargé d’affaires a.i. of Latvia to the United Nations at the UN Security Council Briefing on Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine
New York, 22 June 2026
Thank you, Madam President,
I thank the ASG Khaled Khiari and the OCHA Director Edem Wosornu for their factual briefings.
Latvia strongly condemns the massive Russian missile and drone assaults against Ukrainian civilians, including on June 14 and 15. The strikes killed at least 11 civilians across Ukraine and injured several dozens. In Kharkiv, at least five first responders were killed in a “double-tap” strike.
On that same night, the Russian armed forces bombed one of the oldest and most sacred monasteries and religious sites of the Orthodox world using Russian drone Geran 2. Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was established in the 11th century, in Kyiv, the vibrant capital of the ancient Kyivan Rus.
Madam President,
This is incomprehensible. How could Kyiv Pechersk Lavra be deliberately bombed by Russia, a country which associates itself with Orthodox Christianity and talks so often about protection of traditional moral norms?
The attack on Kyiv Pechersk Lavra might have something to do with the fact that this monastery is an iconic site of Orthodox Christianity; and that it is, in fact, older than Moscow, which was first mentioned in historical chronicles almost 100 years later [in 1147https://kyivindependent.com/war-crimes/">constitutes a war crime, and may amount to crimes against humanity. It is a pattern of targeted, barbaric and widespread attacks, that violate the most basic rules of international humanitarian law, namely, the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution.
Madam President,
In the occupied territories of Ukraine, the lack of fundamental freedoms and the scale of atrocities are unthinkable. Ukrainian language is banned in schools, Ukrainian literature and symbols are confiscated or destroyed; statues of Ukrainian poets have been removed.
Children are under constant russification and militarization. Civilians are arbitrarily detained – even for wearing blue and yellow, the colours of the flag of Ukraine. All Christian denominations other than the Kremlin-linked Russian Orthodox Church face various degrees of restrictive measures and oppression. The indigenous Muslim community of Crimean Tatars is targeted through bogus counter-extremism and anti-terrorism charges. Such dismantling of fundamental freedoms is again a textbook example of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. All of these crimes must not go unpunished. Accountability must prevail over impunity.
If Russia wants to argue otherwise regarding the situation in the occupied territories and its detention facilities – it is free to prove everybody wrong by granting unimpeded access to the occupied territories and detention facilities for independent monitors and UN agencies, especially OHCHR! Let the facts speak for themselves.
Madam President,
Ukraine is standing strong. Latvia continues to stand with Ukraine.
With no victories to report from the front, Russia has intensified its targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Russia is the sole aggressor, bearing exclusive responsibility for the illegal invasion and executing a deliberate campaign of atrocities against innocent civilians on their sovereign soil.
Enough is enough. The time for a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire is now.
A ceasefire is not merely a so-called Western position as Russia likes to frame it; all, but one member of this Council have called for a ceasefire.
It is time for Russia to act on it.
Thank you.