Spotlighting Deadly July for Civilians in Ukraine, UN Official Tells Security Council That “Horrific Devastation” Cannot Be Normalized
Amidst a recent escalation in hostilities, the casualty count in Ukraine continues to grow — with July being the deadliest month for civilians in almost two years — a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as speakers condemned Moscow’s massive aerial attacks.
Ukraine observed its thirty-third Independence Day on 24 August. However, said Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, this day also marked “a sombre milestone of two-and-a-half years of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — launched in blatant violation of the UN Charter and international law”.
“Over the past 30 months, millions of Ukrainians have witnessed unimaginable death, devastation and destruction,” he said, noting that — according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) — since 24 February 2022, 11,662 civilians have been killed, including 639 children, and 24,207 civilians have been injured, including 1,577 children. July alone saw at least 219 civilians killed and 1,018 injured.
In the past two days, he continued, hundreds of missiles and drones reportedly killed at least 11 people and hit energy and other critical civilian infrastructure across Ukraine. Damage was reported in 15 regions, with 11 energy facilities affected, further aggravating millions of people’s already-precarious access to energy and water. On 24 August — amidst escalating fighting in eastern Ukraine — a missile struck a hotel in Kramatorsk, killing a Reuters staff member and injuring four journalists.
He voiced further concern over the fighting’s impact on civilians on both sides of the border, including in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions of Ukraine and the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions of the Russian Federation. Since Ukraine’s 6 August incursion into the Kursk region, local Russian Federation officials have reported at least 12 people killed and 121 others injured.
Sounding the alarm over the deteriorating nuclear-safety situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, he also reported that Moscow informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 22 August that remains of a drone were found within the territory of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant. Accordingly, he called for maximum vigilance to avoid a nuclear incident, “the consequences of which could be catastrophic to the region and the world”.
And, painting a grim picture of the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, he stressed: “The hostilities have displaced millions of Ukrainians who continue to need our support.” While the UN aims to reach 8.5 million people with life-saving assistance in 2024, he cautioned that “the already dire humanitarian situation is expected to worsen as hostilities show no signs of abating and the winter approaches” and added: “We cannot allow the horrific devastation of this war to become normalized.”
“For over two years, Ukraine has been withstanding the largest aerial terror in human history,” said Ukraine’s delegate, adding that the Russian Federation has launched over 9,600 missiles, nearly 14,000 attack drones and over 33,000 guided aerial bombs since February 2022. On 26 August, the Russian Federation launched at least 109 drones and 127 missiles on 15 Ukrainian regions and the capital. On 27 August, it launched 81 drones and 10 missiles targeting 16 regions of Ukraine — 60 drones and five missiles were shot down, he said, thanking those who have contributed to his country’s air defence. Nonetheless, the missiles and drones that were not intercepted caused severe damage and casualties.
“Just imagine this number of deadly weapons dropped on our hospitals, schools and power stations,” he said, stressing that the costs of these attacks are difficult to calculate. The Russian Federation targets residential buildings and critical infrastructure to “annihilate Ukraine”, and he added that — by targeting legitimate military targets — his country aims to diminish Moscow’s capacity to attack. “We will continue to eliminate Russia’s combat potential,” he declared, citing his country’s actions as “not escalatory” but, rather, aimed to “deter Russia”. Ukraine will not stand idly by, observing Moscow’s military build-up in the Kursk region, he added.
The Russian Federation’s representative countered that the “Kursk adventure” — a “reckless attack” by the Ukrainian “regime” against a peaceful border region in the Russian Federation — is the reason why Western Council members were reluctant to call a meeting on Ukraine. “Our Western colleagues simply could not overlook hundreds of pieces of evidence showing that Ukrainian nationalists are executing peaceful citizens,” he said. Pointing to “irrefutable evidence” of Ukraine’s intentional shelling of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, which could “trigger a nuclear incident with tragic consequences” for Europe, he said that the attack showed the regime’s “true colours”. He also spotlighted the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ use of Western weapons in the Kursk region.
Despite this attack, the Russian Federation’s military is advancing in Ukraine, he said, adding that it would be “naïve” to expect the United States and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to offer an “objective or humane” assessment of the acts of “Ukrainian murderers and terrorists”. Drawing attention to the consequences of the “Kursk adventure”, he said that “the Kyiv regime deceived everyone who talked about peace” and chose escalation over talks. “That is why we continue implementing the targets of a special military operation by instilling peace in Ukraine,” he concluded.
Throughout the meeting, numerous delegates condemned Moscow’s strikes against civilian populations and infrastructure, noting their blatant violation of international humanitarian law.
Among them was Slovenia’s delegate, who said that the last two days reflect the “viciousness” of this war. “And there is no sign that the intensity of fighting is decreasing,” he said, stating: “The sheer extent of human life lost to this war instigated by Russia is intolerable.” The Russian Federation must demonstrate a genuine willingness to end the war and engage in good-faith negotiations based on international norms. As the war rages, the stakes are increasing, he cautioned — especially with regard to the safety and security of nuclear power plants in the region.
Calling on Moscow to accede to the demand of 100 Member States and return control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant to the Ukrainian authorities, the representative of the United States underscored: “Russia cannot and will not subjugate Ukraine.” He also stressed that Kyiv’s 32 NATO allies will continue to support both its “immediate security needs” and “long-term defence and deterrence capabilities” and reiterated a call on the Russian Federation to stop its “relentless” attacks and immediately withdraw from Ukraine’s territory. Moscow “cannot redraw Ukraine’s borders by force”, he emphasized.
Highlighting “the continued barbarity of [Russian Federation] President [Vladimir V.] Putin’s tactics against the Ukrainian people”, his counterpart from the United Kingdom said that — instead of celebrating its Independence Day — Ukrainians were fighting for their country. “They are also fighting on behalf of all our countries, in defence of principles on which the UN was founded,” he added. As Moscow gets increasingly desperate, its attacks become more cowardly. On the recent wave of attacks across Ukraine that struck numerous civilian areas, he said that the intentional targeting of civilian populations and infrastructure constitutes a war crime.
Echoing that sentiment, France’s delegate said that Moscow continues to deliberately target civilians to break the morale of the Ukrainian people. He also spotlighted the widespread, systematic use of torture and sexual violence by the Russian Federation Armed Forces, as documented by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. Additionally, he said, Moscow continues to be guilty of murder, mutilation and the illegal transfer of children.
Guyana’s representative, in that vein, demanded an immediate end to all attacks targeting civilians and civilian objects. “Guyana further demands that the conflict parties take constant care to protect civilians and civilian objects from harm,” she added. With each life lost, each family torn apart and each home bombed, anger and hatred spread and the prospect for peace diminishes, she observed, urging the international community to support Ukraine’s humanitarian needs.
Underscoring Ukraine’s inherent right to self-defence, the representative of the European Union, in its capacity as observer, said that — while Ukrainians courageously defend their country — Moscow further intensifies its attacks on civilian infrastructure. Similarly, it shows disregard for the welfare of civilians in the areas it temporarily occupies by unlawfully impeding the delivery of humanitarian relief. “Russia and its leadership must be held fully accountable for waging a war of aggression,” he stressed, warning that a lack of accountability “emboldens the aggressor and its accomplices”.
Along those lines, Poland’s delegate said that the recent massive air attacks give a clear picture of the aggressor’s intentions. He urged the Russian Federation to stop its attacks against critical infrastructure and appealed to all States to redouble efforts to ensure Ukraine’s energy security. “This could include, for example, providing air defence around critical infrastructure, spare parts and power generators, as well as increasing energy exports,” he said. Given current circumstances, any temptation to turn to a policy of appeasement should be decisively rejected, he asserted.
Latvia’s representative, also speaking for Estonia and Lithuania, stressed that the Russian Federation has repeatedly, deliberately targeted civilian and critical infrastructure in Ukraine. Also pointing to recent attacks on a hospital in Kherson and a hotel in Kramatorsk — which resulted in the deaths of two humanitarian workers and a Reuters staff member, as well as the injury of four journalists, including one from Latvia — he called on the aggressor to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its troops and military equipment from Ukraine’s territory. He also urged Minsk, Tehran and Pyongyang to stop assisting Moscow’s cruel war against Ukraine.
For his part, the representative of Sierra Leone, Council President for August, spoke in his national capacity to reaffirm that “a military solution” is “clearly not feasible”. Therefore, he urged all parties to create conditions conducive to holding direct talks “at the earliest possible timeframe” and to actively work towards de-escalating tensions. Turning to the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, he called on the international community to financially support the UN’s Winter Response Plan to “address the pressing needs of the people, enhance living conditions and ensure access to essential services”.
Similarly, China’s delegate warned that the war will bring nothing but “more harm” and make “an already turbulent world even more unpredictable”. Emphasizing the importance of preventing the conflict from escalating further, he urged “no spillover of the battlefield, no escalation of the fighting and no feeding of flames”. Welcoming the new round of prisoner exchange between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, he called on both parties to refrain from attacking civilian populations and infrastructure and, detailing his Government’s shuttle diplomacy in Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia, he noted that the six-point consensus for peace received positive feedback.
Yet, the representative of Denmark, also speaking for Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, condemned Moscow’s recent missile attacks, which are “among the worst” since the onset of its illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression. “Russia’s goal remains to subjugate Ukraine,” she said, noting that it has brought death, terror and destruction to the areas it temporarily occupies. And, while no one wants peace more than Ukraine, she underscored that “it cannot be peace at any cost”.