Mr. Chairperson,  

Almost every week Ukraine witnesses yet another massive missile attack.

Last Friday, eight Tu-95 strategic bombers launched Kh-101 and Kh-555 missiles from the Caspian Sea and Volgodonsk regions.

Kalibr missiles were launched by the russian warships from the Black Sea.

In total, 71 missiles were fired.

In addition, the invaders launched a massive attack with S-300 anti-aircraft missiles from Belgorod against Kharkiv and from occupied Tokmak against Zaporizhzhia.

In total, up to 35 S-300 missiles were fired.  

On the same day, 10^th of February, 20 Shahed kamikaze attack drones were intercepted.

They were launched from the Eastern coast of the Sea of Azov.

Furthermore, last night, at 3 AM, a new attack followed.

36 missiles were fired the Kursk region, the Caspian Sea; temporarily occupied Melitopol, as well as from the Black Sea.

Unfortunately, some of Kh-22 cruise missiles hit their goals, as for the moment we do not have systems capable to intercept them.

It was reported that some critical infrastructure was damaged in Lviv, Dnipropetrovs, Kirovograd regions.

But let me underline one of the peculiarities of the latest attack. It was conducted in the night.

And maybe, the intention was to cause more casualties.

So, this was the 15^th missile attack on Ukraine since last October.

However, after russia failed to destroy Ukraine’s energy system and freeze Ukrainians into submission, moscow has decided to open a new genocidal front against the Ukrainians.

Now the russians are trying to deprive Ukrainians of access to the water supply.

After the partial destruction and deliberate opening of the gates of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant by the russians, we are losing thousands of cubic meters of water every day.

Some settlements may be left without drinking water.

Furthermore, it creates additional risks for the proper functioning of the cooling systems of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

We call upon the international community to take action to prevent an environmental disaster with destructive consequences for the entire continent.

And this is something the Second Dimension can look carefully into.

In the meantime, russia again is trying to play hunger games with the world by obstructing the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Russian representatives have systematically been delaying the inspection of vessels for several months.

As a result, a queue of more than 140 vessels was formed in the Bosporus.  

Most of vessels have been waiting there for more than a month.

Due to russia's actions, Africa and Asia, is once again facing food security risks.

It is time to demand from russia to stop the delays, end attempts to weaponize food and unblock commercial navigation to the Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

At the same time, we are concerned about the increase in traffic volume through russian seaports in the Azov and Black seas.

Especially, given that there are no inspections of these vessels.

Therefore, the use by russia of commercial vessels for receiving military goods should not be excluded. 

Dear colleagues,

Last September, Mariia Lvova-Belova, a so-called russian children’s rights ombudswoman, when talking about the adoption of Ukrainian orphans from Mariupol in russian families, said the following, I quote:

“At the beginning, children talked negatively about the president of russia, sang the anthem of Ukraine, but then integration started to happen. Yes, there is some kind of negativity, maybe at the beginning, but then it turns into love for russia”. End of quote.

Maybe it was the first time when a russian official acknowledged the forced assimilation of Ukrainian children.

But can one imagine what stands behind this “love for russia”?

What level of pain was inflicted on these children?

First, russia comes to kill their parents and destroy their homes. Then russia takes these children by force to its territory.

And after all, they are “re-educated” to love this bloody russia.    

And what does this re-education mean in practice?

The identity of children is completely erased.

They get new names; new personal stories and they are heavily brainwashed.

This is what the genocide looks like.

The UN Convention, which was adopted after the victory over Nazism, reads: “genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national group, as such by forcibly transferring children of the group to another group”.

And this new Orwellian reality in russia gives us the understanding of what neo-Nazism looks like nowadays.

What I mentioned is not an isolated case. But a systematic policy. Let’s reconstruct the sequence of some events.  

In early March, Putin met with Lvova-Belova in the Kremlin to discuss the adoption of children taken out of Ukraine.

At the end of May, Putin signed a law simplifying the procedure for accepting Ukrainian orphans into russian citizenship.

Even these few facts show that the forced assimilation policy is a part and parcel of russia’s aggressive war on Ukraine.

And yesterday’s report from Yale revealed the scale of the crime.

At least 43 facilities across russia-controlled territory, including near russia's eastern coast, are involved in the re-education of children from Ukraine.

We expect the OSCE and its Institution to address this crime against Ukrainian children coherently.

These are the worst Soviet practices in action – extermination, deportation, and assimilation. 

And Crimea remains to be a test site for russia’s genocidal policies.

Last week it became known about the death of Kostiantyn Shyring and 60-year-old Dzhemil Hafarov. Let me provide some more details about the latter.

Dzhemil Hafarov, who was buried just yesterday, was illegally detained during the largest wave of searches in Crimea on the 27^th of March, 2019.

At the time of imprisonment, Dzhemil Hafarov had the 3^rd group of disabilities due to heart and kidney diseases.

Due to the neglect of his health condition, Hafarov suffered a heart attack in the pre-trial detention centre.

Despite this, in January 2023, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison. And let be honest, he was just tortured to death.

With those two deaths, it becomes obvious that quiet diplomacy has exhausted its potential.

As I said on numerous occasions, publicity saves lives.

People illegally detained by russia in the occupied territories deserve constant public attention, including from the OSCE and its Institutions.

Every wave of searches and detention in Crimea deserves immediate public condemnation by the OSCE.

But when it comes to death, the condemnation is, for sure, not enough.

Certain actions are needed to prevent new tragedies. 

 

Dear colleagues,

We witness the gravity of russia’s crimes on Ukraine’s soil every day.

After pretending to be ready for negotiations, Russia has been ramping up its efforts on the battlefield in an attempt to turn the tide of the war in its favour.

They even started to threaten with a new offensive against liberated areas of the Kharkiv region. Russians regularly shell Kupiansk.

Yesterday russians shelled a hospital in Beryslav, the Kherson region.

A day before they shelled a clinic in Kherson twice. In the morning, and again in a few hours.

This is yet another reminder that moscow respect neither the rules of international law nor the norms of humanity and morality.

They do not care about schools, medical facilities or any other objects protected by international humanitarian law.

And multi-story buildings remain among key targets for the russian military.

Yesterday, such a building was hit by the MLRS in Pokrovsk, the Donetsk region. At least, 12 people were wounded and three killed.

This proves again and again that russia will continue to terrorize Ukrainians until it is effectively stopped and all Ukrainian territories are liberated.  

That’s why Ukraine is grateful to its allies for the support previously delivered.

At the same time, more supplies are needed to bolster Ukraine's ability to defend itself from russian terror.

Ukraine has to be strengthened on the land, in the sky and at the sea.

This is a guarantee of a lasting and just peace, as it is suggested by President Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula.

We have to do our utmost not to allow this war to last yet another year.  

 I thank you, Mr Chairperson.