Ukraine's U.N. ambassador to Russia: "There is no purgatory for war criminals"
Ukraine's U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya directly addressed his Russian counterpart during an emergency meeting held by the U.N. Security Council, after Russian forces invaded Ukraine upon President Vladimir Putin's orders on February 24.
Russian forces fired missiles at several Ukrainian cities and landed troops on its south coast on Thursday, officials and media said, after Putin authorized what he called a special military operation in the east. The attack happened as the 15-member United Nations body met in New York to try and defuse weeks of mounting tensions.
Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia notified the council of Moscow's move during the meeting, justifying it under Article 51 of the U.N. Charter, which covers an individual or collective self-defence by states against armed attack.
During the meeting, Kyslytsya urged the council to "do everything possible to stop the war".
"As I said, relinquish your duties as a Chair, call (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, call Lavrov to stop (the) aggression. And I welcome the decision of some members of this Council to meet as soon as possible to consider the necessary decision that would condemn the aggression that you've launched on my people. There is no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell, Ambassador."," Kyslytsya told Nebenzia at the end of the council meeting.
