New York, 6 June 2023
Mr. President,
I thank USG Griffiths for his briefing.
Here we are, once more, with dreadful news coming from Ukraine.
A huge hydropower electric dam, in the temporary Russian-controlled part of southern Ukraine, was blown up, unleashing a significant amount of water now flowing free through the dam and the hydroelectric power plant.
You don’t need to be a scientist to anticipate the huge consequences.
The calculation of the damage or destruction of civilian property will need time and experts warn that it will definitely have extensive long-term ecological and environmental negative consequences not only for Ukraine but for neighboring countries and regions. USG Griffiths already gave us an initial grim picture.
Not to mention that, as a result, the cooling procedures of the Zapporizhzhia nuclear power plant may be seriously affected.
Colleagues,
Ukraine has accused Russia for the destruction. We just heard Russia claiming the opposite. As the SG stated earlier this morning, the UN has not been able to independently verify the facts, but has clearly established that this is yet another catastrophic consequence of the Russian aggression in Ukraine.
As we all know, there are two parallel wars going on: Russia’s war of choice that is killing civilians, committing crimes and destroying an entire country, and the propaganda war that is trying to fool the world through a totally biased and intentionally distorted narrative despite a serious recurrent issue of credibility. Let’s have a closer look:
- How many times did we hear in January and February last year that Russia had no intention to attack Ukraine? Until it shamelessly did.
- How many times have we heard, including in this room, that everything happening since February 2022 is solely and entirely the fault of Ukraine? Which we know, it isn’t.
- How many times have we heard that the despicable crimes committed in Bucha were staged? The UN Commission of Inquiry and other credible reports have concluded otherwise.
- Didn’t we hear endlessly that Russia never attacked civilians? Except for the 20 thousand Ukrainians killed or wounded and those millions uprooted from their homes.
- Didn’t they say that Russia never forcefully deported children to give them for adoption in Russia? The ICC and the OSCE Moscow Mechanism have proved otherwise and reached different conclusions.
- The whole world witnessed, in disbelief, a room full of people laughing in New Delhi when Russian Foreign Minister claimed that Russia is defending itself from a war launched by Ukraine. 143 countries of the UN just don’t buy it.
- The world scientific community is still waiting for proof on the biolaboratories producing combat birds and armed mosquitoes and for the spread of pathogens using migratory birds and bats.
- Everyone remembers the high alerts issued on the non-existent Ukrainian dirty bombs. And so and so on.
Therefore, the simple question is : why would then the destruction of the dam be otherwise when we have witnessed, day and night, that Russia has not spared anything to inflict as much as possible damage to the civilian and critical infrastructure in Ukraine ?
Didn’t they do everything to destroy power installations last winter to leave entire cities without electricity and heating, with the deliberate intention to force to submission or freeze to death civilians, families, women and girls, children, the elderly, the disabled, everyone?
What is to say about the 2600 schools and more than 1250 health facilities destroyed or damaged already?
Colleagues,
This is not who speaks first; nor is it about who speaks louder. This is about truth, rules, laws and accountability.
And the international law is clear: deliberate attacks on critical civilian infrastructure amount to war crimes. The perpetrators, directly and indirectly involved in such acts, must be held accountable.
Whoever thinks that such acts, like others before it, despite their dire consequences, will affect the spirit of Ukrainians and deter them from fighting to defend and liberate their country, should think twice.
Ukraine is right; Russia is wrong.
This is why the international community will continue to help Ukraine and its people to defend themselves, their freedom and their dignity.
There is only one way to put an end to the consequences of this war and that means the complete withdrawal of all Russian troops from the internationally recognized border of Ukraine and engaging in sincere talks in finding solutions through diplomacy.
Anything else would be perpetuating what we have seen so far: madness.
I thank you!