Kyiv/Geneva: A day after the meetings between the United Nations Secretary-General Antònio Guterres and Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, Ukraine today claimed that since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, Russian occupiers had raped more than 400 Ukrainian children and women.
The charges were levelled by Liudmyla Denisova, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. The Geneva-based United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today stated that as of today a total of 2,787 persons were killed (912 men, 611 women, 61 girls, and 74 boys, as well as 67 children and 1,062 adults whose sex is yet unknown) in Ukraine since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The number of those injured stood at 3,152 (365 men, 296 women, 66 girls, and 73 boys, as well as 163 children and 2,189 adults whose sex is yet unknown)
Earlier, Putin told Guterres that Russia “simply cannot sign a document on security guarantees without settling the territorial issues of Crimea, Sevastopol and the Donbass republics”.
Comparing Sevastopol and Donbass with Kosovo (recognised as an independent country by the USA, and many European Union countries but not by Russia and Serbia), Putin referred to the International Court of Justice and claimed that it ruled that when fulfilling its right to self-determination a territory within any state does not have to seek permission from the country’s central government in order to proclaim its sovereignty. “This was the ruling on Kosovo, and this is what the International Court decided, and everyone supported it…If so, the Donbass republics, the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic, can enjoy the same right without seeking permission from Ukraine’s central government and declare their sovereignty, since the precedent has been created,” Putin told Guterres, who in turn made it clear to the Russian President that the United Nations did not recognise Kosovo. Putin, though, argued that the court did pass the judgement and many countries of the West recognised Kosovo as an independent nation. “It is a fact that many Western countries recognised Kosovo as an independent state,” he said, asserting that Russia did the same with the Donbass republics. “After that, they asked us to provide them with military assistance to deal with the state (read Ukraine) that launched military operations against them. We had the right to do so in full compliance with Chapter VII, Article 51 of the UN Charter,” he told the UN Secretary-General.
Guterres presented two proposals before Putin concerning humanitarian matters, including humanitarian corridors, in particular, for Mariupol residents, as well as setting up a humanitarian contact group in which the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Russia, and Ukraine would work together to discuss the situation in order to make these corridors truly safe and effective.
Putin claimed the fighting in Mariupol had stopped and nearly 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered there. He asked those who were hiding underground at the Azovstal plant, to follow their example and “nothing bad has happened to them”.
He said while the injured received medical assistance from Russian doctors, he had issued an order to stop the assault. Claiming that the Azovstal plant in Mariupol was fully isolated, Putin acknowledged the claims made by Ukrainian authorities that there were civilians at the plant. “In this case, the Ukrainian military must release them, or otherwise, they will be doing what terrorists in many countries have done, what ISIS did in Syria when they used civilians as human shields. The simplest thing they can do is release these people; it is as simple as that,” Putin told Guterres.
Putin referred to the statement by Guterres that Russia’s humanitarian corridors were ineffective, and told the UN Secretary-General that he had been misled. Claiming that these corridors are effective, he said “over 100,000 people, 130,000–140,000, if I remember correctly, have left Mariupol with our assistance, and they are free to go where they want, to Russia or Ukraine. They can go anywhere they want; we are not detaining them, but we are providing assistance and support to them”. He said the civilians in Azovstal, if there are any, can do this as well. They can come out, just like that.
Asserting that it was a crime to keep civilians as human shields, Putin offered Guterres that in case the UN wanted to inspect the detainment conditions and see for themselves where and how medical assistance is being provided to them, Russia was ready to organise visit by representatives of the Red Cross. “It is the simplest solution to a seemingly complex issue,” Putin said.
Photo: United Nations Secretary-General Antònio Guterres with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow on April 26, 2022. Source: mid.ru
– global bihari bureau
