Zelenskyy urges response to Russian terror – DW – 12/30/2023

The United Nations Security Council hastily convened Friday to discuss Russia’s assault, which Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari called “appalling.”

“Tragically, 2023 is ending as it began — with devastating violence against the people of Ukraine,” he said, and noted that international humanitarian law forbids attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Most council members, including the US, France and the UK, condemned the attacks on Ukraine.

Russia’s envoy to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, said in a lengthy response that Russia had only launched attacks targeting military infrastructure and that Ukraine’s air defense systems were responsible for civilian deaths.

The UK ambassador to the United Nations, Barbara Woodward, slammed the response, saying Russia’s actions were the sole cause of the tragedy in Ukraine.

“The rest is a torrent of lies and disinformation,” Woodward said of Nebenzya’s remarks.

At least 30 people were killed and more than 160 injured afterRussia launched the biggest air attack on Ukraine since the beginning of it’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Almost 160 missiles and drones rained down on multiple cities on Thursday, Zelenksyy said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. 

The massive assault struck Lviv in the west and Kharkiv in the east, Odessa in the south and capital Kyiv.

The Ukrainian president sharply condemned the attack, adding: “It’s important that the world responds to this terror.” More than 100 houses and 45 multi-story residential buildings were destroyed, as were schools, two churches, hospitals and a maternity ward.

Many commercial and storage facilities were also destroyed in the attacks, with Zelenskyy saying Russia used “nearly every type of weapon in its arsenal” to carry them out.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said the assault showed there should be “no talk of a truce” with Moscow at a time when there was  uncertainty over Western aid to Kyiv.

“Today, millions of Ukrainians awoke to the loud sound of explosions. I wish those sounds of explosions in Ukraine could be heard all around the world,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, urging allies to keep up funding for Ukraine.

Poland summoned the Russian charge d’affaires and demanded an explanation after a Russian cruise missile violatedPolish airspace.

The Polish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it also called for an immediate halt to such activities.

The Polish military said earlier Friday the missile traveled about 40 kilometers (25 miles) over 3 minutes before crossing back in into Ukrainian territory.

Russia’s charge d’affaires in Warsaw was later cited as saying that Poland had provided no proof of a border violation by a Russian missile.

“I was handed a note which contained an unsubstantiated claim that allegedly on the morning of 29th December, an airborne object violated Polish airspace, which Polish specialists identified as a Russian guided missile,” RIA Novosti news agency quoted diplomat Andrei Ordash as saying.

“No proof was presented. My request for documented proof of what was in the note was refused.”

rm/lo (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)