While much international attention is rightly concentrated on the grave events in the Middle East, it is important that we do not lose focus on other crises, particularly not one as brutal and far-reaching as that precipitated by the war in Ukraine.

Indeed, this is more so as the conflict continues to inflict unimaginable levels of suffering.

Countrywide, air strikes, artillery fire, and ground fighting continue on a daily basis. People’s lives are dominated by the constant sound of air raid sirens, as unrelenting air strikes rain down and destroy civilian objects – one day a post office terminal, another day a small café, yet another day a grocery shop. Near front lines, people’s daily routines now include picking their way around land contaminated by mines.

The dozens of people killed in the horrific attack on the village of Hroza in Kharkiv region we discussed at the start of this month joined the thousands of others killed in strikes on homes, schools, fields, and markets across Ukraine in the course of this war.

At the latest count, more than 9,900 civilians have been killed since the start of the invasion. To put this into perspective, this is equivalent to almost 16 civilians killed every day.

As these are only the figures OHCHR has so far formally verified, the actual toll is certainly higher.

The devastating toll of these relentless attacks on civilians and civilian objects does not end there.

Significant damage and destruction of critical infrastructure continues to severely impact access of the civilian population to electricity, heating, water and telecommunications. This is a particular concern as winter fast approaches, and temperatures start to drop towards minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Since the start of the invasion, the World Health Organization has also verified more than 1,300 attacks on health care. This is more than 55 per cent of all attacks against health care in the world over the same period. 111 health care workers and patients have been killed and many more injured. Just in the past 2 months, since the beginning of September, 13 health facilities have been impacted by attacks.

The damage to Ukraine’s health infrastructure comes at a time when it is needed more than ever. In some parts of the east and south, services have been decimated as not even half of hospitals or clinics remain functional.

Humanitarian organisations have not been spared, and the operating environment has become more dangerous as the war in Ukraine continues. The number of humanitarian aid workers killed has more than tripled from four in 2022 to 14 so far in 2023.

Attacks harming humanitarian assets have also increased, including the destruction of or damage to aid storage facilities and relief supplies.

I am compelled, once again, to reiterate that under International Humanitarian Law (IHL), parties must take constant care to spare all civilians – including humanitarian personnel – and civilian objects, including homes, schools, hospitals, and other essential infrastructure. Indiscriminate attacks are strictly prohibited.

Read the rest of the briefing here.

Upholding the purposes and principles of the UN Charter through effective multilateralism:
Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine

Several heads of state, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, participated in the meeting. This was Zelenskyy’s first in-person address to the Security Council since the onset of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.

The first video below shows the speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Charter is the UN’s founding document and codifies the major principles of international relations, including the sovereign equality of States and the prohibition of the use of force in international relations.

This was Zelenskyy’s first in-person address to the Security Council (SC) since Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He criticized the UN for failing to prevent or resolve conflicts like the one destroying his country and called for expanding the SC and reforming the right of veto granted to its five permanent members: China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and United States.

He called for Moscow to be stripped of its veto power in the Council, saying “It is impossible to stop the war because all actions are vetoed by the aggressor.” This was one of several calls at the on-going UN General Assembly to reform how the SC works.

“World leaders are seeking new platforms and alliances that could reduce the disastrous scope of problems,” Zelenskyy said, “the problems that are met here within these walls with rhetoric, rather than real solutions; with aspirations to compromise with killers, rather than to protect lives.”

The second video shows the speech by Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Minister Lavrov said his country continues to insist on all provisions of the UN Charter being respected and applied in their entirety, not selectively. “This includes the principle of the sovereign equality of States, non-intervention in their domestic affairs, respect for territorial sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the right of peoples to self-determination,” he said.

The third video shows the whole meeting, which lasted over 3 hours and included speeches by UN Secretary-General and senior statesmen and women from various other countries.

For more information about the debate see the UN News item at https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/09/1141127

President Zelenskyy’s Speech

Minister Lavrov’s Speech

The Whole Debate