GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations Human Rights Council agreed on Monday to Ukraine’s request to hold an urgent debate this week on Russia’s invasion, minutes after Kyiv’s envoy told the Geneva forum that some of Moscow’s military actions “may amount to war crimes”.
The 47-member council adopted the proposal by a vote of 29 in favour, (including the United States), with 5 against (including Russia and China), and 13 abstentions after Russia’s ambassador Gennady Gatilov called for a rollcall vote.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Yevheniia Filipenko, said in an opening speech: “Russia, a member of this Council proceeded to an unprovoked and unjustified attack on Ukraine. It was not just an attack on Ukraine, it was an attack on every U.N. member state, on the United Nations and on the principles that this organisation was created to defend.”
Gatilov told the talks that Russia had launched “special operations to stop the tragedy” in Ukraine’s Donbass region, and that Russia’s forces were not firing on civilian targets in Ukraine.
(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Peter Graff)
