There is no end in sight to the fighting or suffering in Ukraine

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said that with the approach The war in Ukraine Since the first anniversary of its outbreak, there has been no end in sight to the fighting or the suffering. The UN official’s remarks came during a session held by the UN Security Council in New York, where Albania and the United States were invited to discuss developments in Ukraine.

DiCarlo spoke of the number of dead and injured since the start of the war, and said that their number reached more than 18,000. She drew attention to the fact that “the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was able to verify that more than 6,900 people were killed and more than 11,000 injured in Ukraine”. I expected the actual numbers to be much higher.

DiCarlo also paused in her briefing on the millions of displaced people and refugees since the Russian invasion began nearly a year ago. He estimated that the number of Ukrainians displaced in neighboring European countries reached almost 7.9 million people. As for the number of internally displaced persons, it has reached more than 5.9 million, 65% of whom are women and girls. “The systematic and systematic targeting of civilian and vital infrastructure, including energy and health facilities, increases the number of displaced people,” she said.

He drew attention to the implementation of more than 700 attacks on health facilities since the start of the war. She said the United Nations and its partner organizations have provided food aid to nearly nine million Ukrainians inside the country. He also highlighted the arrival of humanitarian aid to nearly 14 million people inside Ukraine since the start of the war, including assistance to nearly one million people living in areas Ukrainians that are not under the control of the Ukrainian government. And she spoke of the difficulties in accessing and delivering humanitarian aid in areas controlled by Russian forces.

The UN official spoke of documenting and verifying more than 90 cases of conflict-related sexual violence since the start of the war. She said these cases fell into two types. The former is used primarily against men and during detention and interrogation, and the latter involves the rape, including gang rape, of women and girls in areas under Russian control. She stressed the need to hold accountable all perpetrators of human rights violations.

US Ambassador: Russian attacks on New Year’s Eve are ‘barbaric’

In addition, during her address to the Council, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations in New York, Linda Thomas Greenfield, described the Russian attacks on Ukraine during the New Year celebrations as barbaric.

“They destroyed the systems that provide heat and light to the Ukrainian people during the coldest and darkest part of winter. This is not the practice of a country that is willing to give up the war,” Greenfield said.

In her address, the US Ambassador focused on the repercussions of the Russian war in Ukraine on the global economy and its exacerbation of the food crisis, saying: “We are all feeling the direct and indirect effects of this senseless war. For example, Russia’s war in Ukraine has exacerbated the global food crisis. The World Food Program estimates that more than 345 million people who suffer or are at risk of acute food insecurity. (I insist) serious means that they are at imminent risk of death, which is more than double the number compared to 2019.”

The US envoy said: “Russian attacks have closed some Ukrainian ports and reduced Ukrainian food exports by around 30 percent.”

We salute and thank Turkey’s efforts and those of the UN Secretary-General for their contribution to the mediation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was crucial to feed the world’s hungry.

At the same time, the American diplomacy indicated: “The initiative does not follow the strong world demand for grain from the Black Sea, due to the deliberate slowing down of Russian inspections, while dozens of ships wait to leave and dozens others await inspections. before they can transfer grain shipments to the world. »

The US ambassador estimated that this was causing additional expense and delays in the arrival of millions of tons of grain, and said “grain is moving at half the rate of shipments in September and October.” And she underscored the need for the initiative to operate as hoped and transfer five million tonnes of grain per month.

The US ambassador said her country had warned the Security Council that Iran and North Korea “intend to transfer prohibited materials to Russia, which they have already done.” Since August, Iran has transferred hundreds of drones to Russia, in violation of United Nations security regulations. Council Resolution No. 2231″.

“Russia is using these Iranian drones to strike Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, depriving millions of Ukrainian civilians of power, heat and vital services in the middle of winter. Today, Ukrainians are suffering and dying because of Iranian support,” she added.

She said her country believed that “Iran is considering selling hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia in violation of the Security Council resolution, and we urge Iran to back down and not take these steps. “.

The American ambassador indicated that North Korea, contrary to public statements by its officials that it would not support Russia’s war in Ukraine, “delivered weapons to the Wagner military group in direct violation of Council resolutions security. She intends to deliver more military equipment to Wagner.”

Russian delegate: misleading statements

Additionally, Russian UN delegate Vasily Nebenzia expressed surprise at the request to hold the meeting and inquired about its purpose, describing the UN official’s briefing as nothing new. The Russian ambassador also called statements by Western countries and Ukraine misleading to the international community and the world. Then he was surprised by Ukraine’s request to hold a peace conference and its condition that Russia not participate. He attacked Ukrainian officials and saw that they were waging war in the name of NATO.

He said his country “is not trying to wage war against the Ukrainian people, but rather against the regime that came to power illegally in 2014”.