Ukraine at UN: Russian army ranks alongside ISIS, Al-Shabaab, Taliban

Ukraine welcomes the decision of the UN Secretary-General to include the Russian armed forces and armed groups associated with them in the list of malicious violators of children's rights for the actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.

Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN, said this at the UN Security Council's open debate on children and armed conflicts, an Ukrinform correspondent in New York reports.

"The Russian army undoubtedly ranks alongside the most egregious criminals, such as ISIS, Al-Shabaab, Taliban, and others given the terrible crimes they have committed and continue to commit every day against children in Ukraine," Kyslytsya said.

Earlier it was reported that the UN published the report by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in which the armed forces of the Russian Federation are included in the global list of malicious violators of children's rights for murders and acts of violence in Ukraine.

The Russian army is mentioned in the corresponding annex to the report "Children and Armed Conflict", however, it is indicated that Russia allegedly took measures to improve the protection of children during the reporting period.

Kyslytsya noted that as Russia continues to ignore any dialogue with UN human rights procedures such as the Commission of Inquiry, the International Criminal Court, and the International Court of Justice, "we expect to see evidence of its real determination to cooperate with the UN and the team of the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, in particular".

Ukraine hopes one day to see the full implementation of the "most comprehensive action plan" developed by Russia together with the UN, as stated by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, during the presentation of the report on June 27, the Ukrainian diplomat added.

"Only then will it be possible to justifiably call Russia one of the ‘parties that took measures aimed at improving the protection of children during the reporting period’," he emphasized.

Kyslytsya urged the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to persistently demand from the Russian Federation the fulfillment of all its obligations under international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

"This includes ending all serious violations of children's rights in Ukraine and ensuring the timely and safe return of all Ukrainian children forcibly and unlawfully held by Russia," he said.

Ukraine’s Permanent Representative noted that the Secretary-General's report did not pay due attention to the mass abduction of Ukrainian children by Russia. The Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that more than 700,000 children have been "resettled" from Ukraine to Russia. Ukraine has good reasons to believe that the Russian Federation forcibly and unlawfully deported several hundred thousand Ukrainian children, the diplomat noted.

To date, the Ukrainian authorities have identified 19,492 such children, including 4,390 orphans and children deprived of parental care. Currently, only 380 of them have been returned and reunited with their families, Kyslytsya said.