(Geneva) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged Monday evening that the situation of his troops around Bakhmout, in the east of the country, was becoming very difficult.
“The situation is getting more and more complicated,” he said in his daily message. “The enemy systematically destroys everything that can be used to protect our positions,” he added, calling the Ukrainian soldiers engaged in this battle “real heroes”.
Since the summer, troops from Moscow have been trying to take the city of Bakhmout, of disputed strategic importance, but which has become a symbol of the struggle for control of the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine.
In remarks broadcast Monday by Russian television, the head of the Donetsk region appointed by Moscow, Denis Pushilin, assured that all access routes to the fortress city of Bakhmout are “within range of arms” of the forces. prorussians.
Russian forces have been trying for several weeks to encircle Bakhmout and have succeeded in cutting off several important supply routes for Ukrainian troops. The boss of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, Evguéni Prigojine, claimed responsibility on Saturday for the capture by his men of the village of Yaguidné, located on the northern outskirts of Bakhmout.
The UN harshly criticizes Russia
War crimes, international security undermined: the Russian invasion in Ukraine dominated Monday the opening of the debates at the UN Human Rights Council and the Conference on Disarmament.
After the adoption, last week by a very large majority, of a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly demanding an “immediate” withdrawal of Russian troops, the UN and the allies of Kyiv launched a new salvo on Monday of criticism against Moscow, eager to demonstrate that this war does not only concern Europe.
PHOTO EVGENIY MALOLETKA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
After the adoption, last week, by a very large majority, of a resolution by the General Assembly of the United Nations demanding an “immediate” withdrawal of Russian troops, the UN and the allies of Kyiv launched a new salvo on Monday criticism of Moscow, with the intention of demonstrating that this war is not just about Europe.
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered the most massive human rights violation we know today,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the opening of the meeting. 52e session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), which should last almost six weeks.
Denouncing “the senseless invasion of Ukraine by Russia”, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, castigated the return of “destructive wars of aggression, dating from a bygone era and with global consequences”.
“Today it’s Ukraine, but tomorrow it could be another neighboring country”, launched the President of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, calling for “not to remain neutral”.
At the Conference on Disarmament – which also started Monday at UN headquarters in Geneva – UK Secretary of State for Europe Leo Docherty read a statement on behalf of more than 30 countries. The Russian invasion “is a threat not only to Ukraine, but also to international peace and security and to the international order”, she underlines.
“Russia is undermining our collective security architecture and challenging our rules-based global order. In a word, Russia is trying to impose its vision of international relations based on the law of the strongest, or at least the most aggressive,” declared French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.
US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control Bonnie Jenkins decried Russia’s suspension of its participation in the New Start nuclear disarmament treaty. “Russia is once again showing the world that it is not a responsible nuclear power,” she said, while German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accused Moscow of undermining “the arms control architecture on which we all depend”.
War crimes
The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, is due to participate in the HRC by videoconference on Thursday, while Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov is expected in Geneva in the coming days.
At the end of the session, at the beginning of April, the 47 member states of the HRC will have to decide on the continuation of the work of the UN investigators on Ukraine, who will present their first written report in the coming weeks after having already reported in September on war crimes.
Russia “inflicts untold suffering on the Ukrainian people. […] Those responsible for these war crimes and crimes against humanity will have to be held to account,” stressed the head of French diplomacy before the HRC.
A little later, during a meeting in support of Ukraine on the sidelines of the Council, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba – by videoconference – denounced the abuses committed by Russia.
“The most frightening crime is the theft of children. We are talking about thousands of them,” he said, accusing Moscow of committing a “crime of genocide,” and reiterating Ukraine’s desire to set up a special tribunal to try Russian crimes.
Ukrainian ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko pleaded last week for a “strengthening” of the resolution defining the mandate of the investigators, but Kyiv and its allies will still have to convince some hesitant countries to criticize Moscow.
The renewal of the mandate of the Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia will also be the subject of fierce discussions.