Madam Chairperson,  

From the very beginning of the aggression against Ukraine, the russian regime has tried to cover up its war with torrents of lies.

As the kremlin defines its strategic goal to destroy Ukraine, the most cynical lie is that russia is “fighting threats to its statehood emanating from Ukraine”.

This is one of the key lines of russia’s narratives we hear every week in the OSCE.

However, the truth is that the greatest threats to the russian state come from moscow itself due to its unwillingness to end the war of aggression in Europe.

The recent elections in the occupied Crimea are one of many such examples. 

By holding so-called “elections” in the occupied territories, the kremlin regime continues to undermine its constitution and delegitimize russia's political system.

Neither is better the situation with critical infrastructure.  

Recently, the russian minister of energy admitted that in russia the “electric power reserves that were created during the Soviet era have been depleted”.

The main reason for this is “a lack of funds for the modernization and maintenance of equipment”.

This is not surprising, given russia has chosen to spend its income on attacking Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.

On August 26 alone, russia spent some USD 1.3 billion shelling Ukraine.

This money could have been spent on improving the lives of ordinary Russians.

Let’s say, for building new schools in russia’s depressed regions. 

But, the kremlin believes that the 3400 educational institutions damaged or destroyed in Ukraine by the russian missiles and bombs are somehow helping to consolidate russia’s statehood.

Or, perhaps, the attack on Ukrainian medical institutions is seen in moscow as a means of improving healthcare in russia’s provinces and solving russia’s demographic catastrophe.    

At the same time, while trained russian soldiers are being ordered to kill Ukrainians and destroy our cities, the russian people and territory have been abandoned by russian leadership, and people’s humanitarian needs are fully ignored by moscow, which is afraid of allowing international observers to see the real situation in the region. 

The continuation of the so-called “meat waves” in the Donets region shows that the russian leader is concerned more about the preservation of tanks, armoured vehicles and other military equipment. Not a human life.

Moreover, in order to maintain these “meat waves”, moscow continues to increase the annual salary of contract soldiers. This payment is already several times higher than the average nominal wage in russia.  

Such a disbalance will lead to economic distortions, thus, undermining prospects of the russian state and meaning more poverty for the already poor.   

As President Zelenskyy said recently, “Putin has shown his real interest […] Putin wants to occupy Ukraine more than he wants security for russia. He doesn't care about Russian land and people - Putin just wants to grab as much Ukrainian land and as many Ukrainian cities as possible”.

The daily loss of 1000 soldiers shows the gravity of the crisis of humanity, the decline in morale and a complete disregard for human life in russia.   

Sadly, the 137 thousand of war crimes committed by the russian soldiers in Ukraine is a horrifying measure of the gravity of this crisis and morale decline of the russians under the current leadership.

Every day and every attack add to this list.

The last week was no exception, when russia used nearly 30 missiles of various types, more than 800 guided aerial bombs and nearly 300 Shahed drones against our people.

One of these bombs hit an ordinary multi-storey residential building in Kharkiv.  

43 people were reported injured, including four children. One person was killed. On that day, russia used 128 such bombs in total.

Moreover, one of the russian artillery shells targeted the ICRC team, who came to one of the villages in the Donetsk region to provide relief to affected people.

Russia killed three ICRC members and wounded two others, despite their protection under IHL. Deliberately. In the same way, as russia systematically attacks rescue workers, medical staff and firefighters across Ukraine. 

And one of the russian missile hit a civilian ship in the Black Sea, outside Ukraine’s territorial waters. It was a bulk carrier carrying wheat to Egypt.

This is a stark reminder that russia has not given up its plans to use global food security as a weapon of its war.

Of course, we all remember well one of russia’s arguments that there were no grounds for worries as Ukraine’s contribution to global food security was only a few percent. However, even a few percents means the lives of millions of people.

But has moscow ever carried about a human life?

Madam Chairperson,

We are grateful to CIO, Minister Borg, for his participation in the International Crimea Platform Summit on the 11^th of September, as well as to other participating States who joined the Summit.

In particular, we appreciate the CIO’s determination to support a lasting and just peace in Ukraine based on the Helsinki Final Act and the non-recognition of any forced change of legal status of Crimea and other occupied territories of Ukraine.  

This has reaffirmed Malta's unwavering leadership in defending and safeguarding the OSCE founding principles.

This is also reflected in the CIO’s commitment to activities under the Peace Formula. 

As President Zelenskyy stated, “the Peace Formula plan is also the plan for the return of Crimea. It is the plan to restore the rights of the Crimean Tatar people, the rights of Ukrainians, and the rights of all those who live on this land”.

In times of war, however, it is more than clear, that peace cannot be achieved on its own.

Peace must be defended. By freedom-loving nations. With timely, united and concerted actions.  

Iran's transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia is another wake-up call for the Free world. 

The deepening of military cooperation between russia, Iran and North Korea poses serious security threats for the whole Europe, the Middle East and the world.

To mitigate these threats, we must be strong enough to win in Ukraine.

In view of this, the Ukrainian leadership is preparing the Victory package for the full implementation of the Peace Formula. 

This victory requires powerful military support for Ukraine, lifting all restriction against targeting legitimate military targets in russia and providing all necessary means for that, increased pressure on russia through diplomacy and sanctions, as well as the recognition of a fact that lasting stability can only be guaranteed if Ukraine is fully integrated into existing security arrangements in Europe.   

This is how we can finally prevent the deepening of the crisis of humanity orchestrated by the kremlin regime. This is how we can protect a human life against aggressor’s slaughter. This is how we can restore respect for the Helsinki Final Act.  

If we act now, we can break this vicious circle of violence. The responsibility is on us.

I thank you, Madam Chairperson.