Mr. Chairperson, dear colleagues, 

While the OSCE is approaching the end of the year, the russian war is in full swing.

Russia continues its nightly attacks on Ukraine.

Instead of Christmas lights, kids in Ukraine see the fire of intercepted missiles and drones in the skies. 

Moscow resumed the use of strategic aviation after a 79-day pause.  

On December 8, Ukraine was attacked with 19 cruise missiles from Tu-95.

14 missiles were intercepted.   

On December 11, russia launched eight ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian capital.

Yesterday, AGAIN, russia attacked Kyiv with 10 missiles Iskander-M and S-400 ballistic missiles. All the missiles were shot down.

However, it is reported that 53 people were injured by the missile debris, including 6 children. Among them, 18 adults and 2 children were hospitalized.

Given the scale of the attack, there could have been more casualties.

Thanks to air-defence systems, provided by participating States, many lives were saved.

We are grateful for this.

Nevertheless, further protection of the skies remains among our key priorities.

The destruction of the critical infrastructure is a part and parcel of russia’s total war against Ukraine.

Even this night, Ukraine, mostly the Odesa region, including port infrastructure in Izmail, was attacked with 42 Shaheds.

11 civilians were injured, including three children.

Children have got contusion and closed head injuries. 

Furthermore, this week the biggest cyber-attack, which was conducted on one of Ukraine’s mobile operators, reminds us about other domains of the war.

It has negative implications for various aspects of the public life.

The goal is clear – to provoke chaos and instability.

An investigation is still ongoing, however, a russian hacker group has already taken responsibility for this crime.

At the same time, this speaks volumes about how important is to protect our critical infrastructure, not only from kinetic but also cyber-attacks.

As this threat knows no borders, our common actions are needed.    

Ukraine also continues its fight for freedom on the legal front. 

Yesterday the ECHR started hearings in the case Ukraine v. Russia regarding Crimea.

Among other things, this case concerns the Ukrainian political prisoners transferred to the russian federation.

Unfortunately, russia continues this illegal practice. The deportation of Nariman Dzhelyal, one of the leaders of the Crimean Tatars people, to Siberia serves as the latest example.  

Therefore, Ukraine will use every possible tool to defend its people and their rights. 

We are also grateful to all participating States who joined an International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children launched in Kyiv on December 8.

We also believe that the OSCE is a proper platform for implementing projects and initiatives aimed to strengthen the capacities of Ukraine’s agencies to trace missed children. 

It is symbolic that the inauguration of this coalition took place on the eve of the 75^th anniversary of the UN Convention on Genocide.

The deportation of children and erasure of their identity is a stark reminder of our common obligation to protect them against russia’s genocidal intentions.

This includes both the defence of free territories and the liberation of still occupied lands.

And when we speak about the occupied areas, first, we have to remember about people living there.

We cannot let them down.

As President Zelenskyy said, “We are talking about alive people. They are being tortured, raped, and killed […] The question is not only about land, the question is about alive people, their fates, their stories, the question is about these families, their children. Should we give up territories, give up children?”. End of quote.  

And it is important to remember what we have already seen in illegally occupied Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, apart from repression and persecution, I mean also illegal conscription and forced mobilization.

When we think about people, russia thinks about human resources for its army.

As we speak about human security, invaders’ plans to hold presidential elections in the occupied territories is yet another issue of concern.

We call on the international community to resolutely condemn these russia's intentions.

Sanctions should be also imposed on those involved in their organization and conduct. 

No doubt, such an electoral process, like other similar propaganda activities in the past, will be null and void.

However, this compromises the safety of people exposed to forced passportization and other human rights violations.   

Furthermore, the inclusion of the votes cast in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine will question the legitimacy of the overall result of the russian election.  

And let’s be honest, election in Russia has nothing to do with democracy. Especially, the upcoming one.

They will be about nothing but a mandate for the continuation of the war.

And we have to do our utmost not to allow russia to whitewash its results and legitimize this mandate.  

Dear colleagues,    

For months, russia has wanted to sow the feeling of defeatism in this hall.

They twist figures and facts. They manipulate quotations.

Their goal is clear – to stop military supplies for Ukraine. 

This is what the russian president dreams about. As he confessed, putin wants, and I already quoted in the Council, “Ukraine that has one week to live if weapon supplies are stopped”. 

This speaks for itself that we cannot trust any word about peace heard from moscow.

Because putin can be taken seriously only when he speaks about the war.

Let’s remember, when putin wrote about the “Ukrainians and Russians as one people” in June 2021, it was considered then as an aberration.

However, eight months later we saw the invasion of Ukraine together with filtration procedures, deportation of children, attempts to erase national identity and incitements to genocide on russian TV.

Even just two years ago, putin’s nostalgia for the collapse of the Soviet Union as the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century was considered as an oddity by those who mourned about millions perished during the two world wars.

However, the re-installation of soviet monuments and flags in the occupied territories as well as prosecution of those who speak out about the soviet crimes demonstrate how dangerous this kind of putin’s obsession could be for democracies which want to build their future freely.

And for russia itself. The ongoing battle for Avdiivka stands alone in terms of russia’s losses, as well as shows the limits of russia’s power.

This also demonstrates that the strategy of military support of Ukraine works.

Thanks to this strategy Ukraine regained 50 percent of the territory that Russia captured at the beginning of this war.

Furthermore, we didn’t allow russia to capture significant new territories this year, despite numerous attempts.

This is our common achievement.  

And thanks to this strategy, the russian Black Sea fleet lost its dominance in the region.   

As a result, a new maritime corridor is operating now.

Millions of tons of food were exported via this route, thus, contributing to the stability of global markets and resilience of Ukraine’s economy.

This again is our common achievement.   

We have to keep the pace, which will lead us to sustainable and comprehensive peace based on Ukraine’s peace formula.

Because only one thing can force moscow to accept a diplomatic solution.

This is a strong European Ukraine supported by the united Free World.   

As a final remark of today’s statement, let me thank you, Mr Chairperson, and your entire team for maintaining focused attention to the russian war of aggression throughout the year.

Likewise, we are grateful to distinguished delegations for their strong statements in support of Ukraine and OSCE principles, for practical aid rendered to my country, and for following a policy of no business as usual within the OSCE.   

We look forward to continuing these efforts with the incoming Maltese Chairpersonship.

I thank you, Mr. Chair.