Mr. Chairperson,   

Last night russia conducted yet another missile attack on Ukraine.

81 missiles were launched, including 28 Kh-101/Kh-555 air-based cruise missiles; 20 Kalibr sea-based cruise missiles; 6 Kh-22 air-based cruise missiles; 6 Kh-47 “Kinzhal” air-based missiles; 8 guided air missiles: 2 – Kh-31P; 6 – Kh-59; as well as 13 S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles.

34 out of 48 cruise missiles were intercepted, however, Ukraine has no capabilities to shot down such missiles as “Kinzhal”, Kh-22 and S-300.

Like a terrorist state, russia launched the attack late in the night. The air alert lasted for seven hours.

As a result, a number of critical infrastructure objects were hit in different regions across the country.

At least, five people were killed in the Lviv region after the missile hit a private house.    

With our common actions we must stop this senseless terror.

Dear colleagues, 

Over the last days photos of the Ukrainian city of Maryinka, Donetsk region, have become viral on social media.

This is yet another city in Ukraine that Russian war criminals turned into the moonscape.

Every building was razed to the ground by the russian army.

This is yet another Ukrainian city “liberated” from people, peace, and life.

This city used to be home for around 10,000 people. Today nobody lives there.

But even fully destroyed, Mariinka continues to resist the russian occupation.

Even after 1 year of the fiercest attacks, it remains under the Ukrainian flag.  

At the same time, Donetsk and Luhansk regions are the hottest spots where Ukraine continues to lose its youngest heroes.

Two days ago, 27-year-old Dmytro Kotsiubailo, a volunteer and decorated Hero of Ukraine, died in the battle near Bakhmut.

And the words said by Vitaliy Deynega, another well-known volunteer in Ukraine and currently the Deputy Minister of Defense, best describe what Dmytro's death means for Ukraine.

Let me quote him.

“The most tragic thing about the death of Dmytro Kotsiubailo is that he represents a generation that has seen almost nothing but the war. He turned 18 right before Maidan. And then his biography consists of such events as: combat tours, serious injury, full-scale war and death. The period of life in which one falls in love, makes mistakes, finds the first job, buys the first car, begins to travel, and does many nice things, which we are ashamed to mention in the future, was absent in his life. He was lucky to love and be loved. But his life consisted of battles, trenches and death, and he saw much less joy in life than his peers”. End of quote.  

Let me repeat once again, he saw much less joy in the life than his peers.

He sacrificed his life for his fellow citizens so that they could enjoy what he was deprived of because of the war.

And this is the war of choice made by the russian president to conquer a sovereign state and erase the national identity of the neighbours.

But history remembers those who made a choice to defend and resist.  

Colleagues, while one in Ukraine is deprived by russia of youthful follies, the others are forcibly divested of the bright days of careless childhood.

Despite diplomatic protests from the international community, russia conducts the largest child abduction operation in modern history.

So far, there are, at least, five scenarios identified russia exploits to deport children from Ukraine.

• abduction after child’s parents are killed;
• abduction directly from the family;
• separation of families in filtration camps;
• transfer of institutions in full stock;
• creation of conditions unfit for life with a following offer to parents to send their children for the “rehabilitation” to the camps in russia and temporarily occupied Crimea.

These children require immediate protection and must be returned to their parents and loved ones.

We believe that the OSCE and its Institutions would come up with valuable ideas on how to contribute to addressing this heinous crime and help these children be back in Ukraine.    

My delegation is ready to facilitate interaction with respective agencies in Ukraine.

Dear colleagues,

On Monday, March 6, a video showing of Russian invaders cowardly executing an unarmed Ukrainian prisoner of war for merely saying “Glory to Ukraine” also went viral.

This is what russia is doing with the Ukrainian people for centuries in its attempts to break people’s strength.

Many generations of Ukrainians were facing the same executions and barbarity.

However, in spite of cruelty, terror and repressions, they preserved the idea of Ukrainian statehood. 

That said, I invite russian diplomats to watch this video I mentioned above very carefully to understand why russia is losing again this time.

Because of the courage and high integrity of such ordinary people who stood up to defend their land. 

However, this grave violation of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law as well as many other crimes shall not remain unaddressed.

Only in the course of the last year over 70,000 russian war crimes have already been recorded.

This is not to mention occupied territories and the previous eight years of the russian aggression.

Destroyed cities, indiscriminate shelling of civilians, forced deportation of children, large-scale damage to Ukraine's environment, deliberate targeting of cultural objects and destruction of our heritage – here I would like to thank the Polish delegation for screening the documentary “Erase the Nation” last Thursday – this pattern of crimes gives us clear understanding what genocide is about.

That’s why we are grateful to all participating States who joined the “United for Justice” conference in Lviv last week.

As President Zelenskyy said at the conference: “The law is able to ensure not only the prosecution of the perpetrators of specific crimes […] The law can eliminate even the hypothetical possibility of feeling impunity for those who are capable of starting terrorist wars. The real rule of law at the global level, and therefore effective international justice, would protect the world from such wars and their terrible consequence”.

That’s why, we urged the international community to consolidate further efforts in establishing the Special Tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression committed by the russian leadership.

Only by delivering justice we can end this terrifying sequence of heinous crimes.

So far, this russian war has been marked with too many precedents we thought could never happen.

The OSCE itself is terrorised by its participating State, as russia illegally has kept three SMM member staff hostage almost for one year.

We reiterate that Vadym Goida, Maksym Petrov and Dmytro Shabanov must be released immediately and unconditionally. 

Exactly one year ago, on March 4, the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP started.

Since then, the seizure of the biggest nuclear power plant generates enormous risks for our region.

And what we see these days is that russia not only involves the Rosatom in the conduct of its aggression against Ukraine.

But allegedly, the Rosatom is also one of the channels russia is trying to use to replenish its resources for waging the war.

This in itself would not be a problem, if only it undermines non-proliferation efforts.

That is why we call upon the international community to introduce sanctions against russia’s nuclear sector, including the Rosatom.

Everything must be done to reduce Russia's ability to produce weapons and undermine the rules-based order we all benefit from.

That’s why strengthening sanctions is not a choice, but a necessity.

Ukraine and the international community must send a clear message to potential aggressors: any predatory war will result in maximum damage to the aggressor.

Delivering weapons to Ukraine is yet another necessity to defend our principles, including those prescribed in the Helsinki Final Act.

Supply of combat aircraft, long-range missiles, air defence systems, armoured vehicles and ammunition is the best guarantee that there would be no more such ruined cities as Mariinka, Bakhmut or Mariupol.

russia is well aware of that.

That’s why we will see more and more disinformation and conspiracy theories including channelled by the russian diplomacy aimed to undermine our unity, solidarity and resolve, to shift the blame as well as to sow the seeds of mistrust and suspicion among us.

I believe that eight years of fighting the russian disinformation war has taught us how to make no mistake.

Let me also reiterate that we all believe in the strength of diplomacy, but dialogue is possible only when the evil is effectively reassured that it cannot commit crimes any more.

We have to do our utmost to deprive the evil of every possibility for committing new crimes.

 

Dear colleagues, 

I want to conclude my statement with words from the poem “A Dream” by Taras Shevchenko, a prominent Ukrainian poet, who was born on this day 209 years ago.

These words resonate very strongly with nowadays.

I will read both Ukrainian and English versions.

“У всякого своя доля

І свій шлях широкий:

Той мурує, той руйнує,

Той неситим оком

За край світа зазирає,

Чи нема країни,

Щоб загарбать і з собою

Взять у домовину”.

“Each person's destiny's his own,

His road before him lies:

This one builds up,

that one tears down,

And that casts greedy eyes

Over all the earth,

to find somewhere

A land not yet enslaved,

Which he could conquer

and then bear

With him into the grave”.

 

I thank you, Mr Chairperson.