Since February 2022, Russia has launched at least 94,344 long-range strike drones and missiles against Ukraine, emphasized Latvia’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Sanita Pavļuta-Deslandes, during a UN Security Council meeting on maintaining peace and security in Ukraine.
The ambassador highlighted that, according to data from the World Health Organization, since the beginning of the war Russia has carried out at least 2,881 attacks affecting healthcare facilities, emergency medical vehicles, and medical warehouses in Ukraine.
She noted that over the past month, Russia has carried out some of the most brutal attacks in its war of aggression. Since the 32-hour ceasefire during Orthodox Easter, Russia’s leadership has intensified its brutality. Pavļuta-Deslandes explained that on the 23rd of March, Russia carried out the largest drone attack recorded in modern warfare—948 drones struck Ukrainian cities within 24 hours.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine confirmed that at least six people were killed and nearly 100 injured in this attack. The strikes also hit a maternity hospital and damaged a 16th-century monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
She further explained that
on the 16th of March, Russia launched 700 drones and missiles at Ukraine,
killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 100. According to the ambassador, this was the deadliest attack of the year.
Addressing the UN Security Council, Pavļuta-Deslandes stressed that Russia continues its unprovoked and illegal war against Ukraine’s population and civilian infrastructure. She pointed out that Russia is deliberately fueling a global security and economic crisis and is supporting and enabling Iran’s attacks on Persian Gulf countries. Meanwhile, Ukraine is helping those countries defend themselves against attacks “that Ukrainians know all too well.”
The ambassador emphasized that while the Kremlin may try to hide the truth about the war’s costs and losses from Russian society—by restricting the internet, banning digital platforms, and suppressing independent media—it “cannot hide the truth from the world.”
She stressed that
accountability for all crimes is not optional and has no statute of limitations.
Pavļuta-Deslandes also noted that Latvia has committed to becoming one of the founding states of a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, as well as the International Claims Commission. She called on all countries to uphold the fundamental principles of international law and demand accountability.
She added that Russia continues to deny access to the UN and independent observers to its territory and to occupied regions of Ukraine. Available reports indicate serious and systematic crimes against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war.
In her address, the Latvian ambassador also drew attention to the Crimean Tatars. She noted that this community had already suffered mass deportations during the Soviet regime. After returning to a free Ukraine and a free Crimea, their situation changed again in 2014—Crimean Tatars now face ethnic, political, and religious persecution and make up the majority of political prisoners in Crimea.
“Russia’s war is an imperial war. It is a war against the Ukrainian nation and its freedom.
Its goal is to destroy the Ukrainian state, culture, history, and language. Russia can end this war and the suffering of civilians immediately. If Ukraine were to stop defending itself, it would mean the end of Ukraine,” Pavļuta-Deslandes stated.
She emphasized that Latvia supports Ukraine—its sovereignty, political independence, and territorial integrity—as well as all efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace. In her view, an immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire is the first step. The Latvian ambassador to the UN called on all countries to exert pressure on Russia to engage in the peace process.
The UN Security Council meeting on peace and security in Ukraine, held on Monday, the 20th of April, was convened at the request of Latvia, Denmark, France, Greece, Liberia, and the United Kingdom.
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