Mr. Chairperson,

I would like to deliver a statement on Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine.

Between 23 and 28 September, Russia continued its daily campaign of missile, drone and aerial-bomb attacks against Ukrainian cities and communities. During these days a Russian ballistic strike damaged a maternity hospital in Kyiv, a Russian drone hit McDonald’s logistics facility. This was yet another attack on international businesses operating in Ukraine: since the beginning of this year alone, Russian strikes have hit facilities belonging to American companies more than ten times, including Bunge, Coca-Cola, Mondelez and PepsiCo.

Russian forces carried out a series of combined strikes using attack drones, loitering munitions and guided aerial bombs. At least eight civilians were killed and more than thirty were wounded, while a Russian aerial bomb killed a 16-year-old girl in Sumy. On 28 of September a Russian strike hit a building of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Will the Russian delegation once again claim that the people seen at the windows of the burning Academy building, desperately trying to escape the flames, are merely part of a staged performance and that the victims are stunt performers? Or perhaps this is yet another ‘military target’ in the twisted imagination of the Russian leadership? The same day, Russia attacked a pharmaceutical company and petrol stations in Kyiv, a business centre in Dnipro, and civilian facilities, enterprises and communications infrastructure in other cities and regions. Russia has also targeted data centres in Kyiv, seeking to disrupt communications and access to online services essential to civilians in wartime. These strikes are neither accidental nor isolated. They form part of a deliberate strategy to terrorise the population, undermine daily life and compensate for Russia’s failure to achieve its objectives on the battlefield. These are acts of pure terrorism.

Esteemed colleagues,

The high-level week of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly once again placed the defence of the UN Charter, sovereignty and territorial integrity at the centre of the international agenda. Yet, instead of responding to calls for a just and lasting peace, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov used the General Assembly rostrum to threaten Europe with war and repeat Moscow’s false narratives about its aggression against Ukraine.

This rhetoric must not be dismissed as mere propaganda. It follows President Putin’s recent threats and is accompanied by Russian hybrid operations against EU and NATO member States, including airspace violations, sabotage, cyberattacks and information interference. Russia’s war is directed against Ukraine, but its coercion, destabilisation and intimidation target Europe as a whole.

The Kremlin interprets concessions as weakness and compromise as an invitation to intensify pressure. The appropriate response is unity and resolve: stronger support for Ukraine, coordinated sanctions, the international isolation of the aggressor and deeper defence cooperation. Restricting Russia’s diplomatic and so called cultural infrastructure used for espionage and subversion would also reduce Moscow’s capacity to conduct hostile activities in Europe.

Mr. Chairperson,

On 26 September, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted a decision of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine imposing sanctions on 44 individuals involved in organising Russia’s illegal so-called elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The list includes Russian nationals and Ukrainian collaborators who facilitated unlawful ‘voting’ in the occupied parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

The organisation of such sham elections in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories is a gross violation of international law. No ballot conducted under occupation, coercion and forced passportisation can create legal consequences or alter the status of Ukrainian territory.

Since 2014, the Kremlin has used sham voting as an instrument to legitimise illegal occupation and attempted annexation. Ukraine is identifying all organisers and facilitators and will use every available legal mechanism to hold them accountable.

We welcome the clear statements by the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, Canada and New Zealand condemning these illegal pseudo-elections. We call on all participating States to maintain full non-recognition of their results and to impose sanctions on their organisers, including the so-called foreign experts and observers used to provide a veneer of legitimacy.

Those who help Russia manufacture the appearance of democratic consent for occupation are not neutral observers. They facilitate an internationally wrongful act and must bear the political and legal consequences of their conduct.

Esteemed colleagues,

Russia’s attacks on homes, hospitals, scientific institutions, communications infrastructure and international businesses, its threats against Europe from the UN rostrum, and its sham elections in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories are elements of the same policy: the use of force, terror and deception to overturn the rules of international security.

Every partner must see in the consequences of this terror that supporting Ukraine means protecting human life and defending the principle that terror must never be normalised. Russia must be held accountable and face real consequences. Europe’s anti-ballistic initiative, the timely supply of air-defence munitions, coordinated sanctions and the effective use of frozen Russian assets are not only support for Ukraine. They are a strategic step in the security of the entire OSCE area.

Ukraine will continue to defend its people, its sovereignty and the principles on which this Organization was founded. We call on participating States to act with the same clarity and determination.

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.