Speakers in Security Council Raise Alarm over Involvement of Pyongyang’s Troops in War against Ukraine
Each Passing Day of Conflict ‘Brings Further Death, Destruction, Hardship’ for Ukrainians, Says Delegate
The Russian Federation’s daily attacks on Ukraine bring death and terror to the local population, while 36 per cent of the country’s population will require humanitarian assistance in 2025, the Security Council heard today, even as delegates traded accusations about the competing geopolitical agendas at stake.
Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, said: “The holiday and New Year’s season — a time meant for peace and reflection — brought no respite, but rather an escalation and even expansion of the fighting.” Noting the increase in casualties in 2024, especially among children, she said that according to Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), between February 2022 and 31 December 2024, at least 12,456 civilians, including 669 children, were killed.
She highlighted the 9 January attack in Zaporizhzhia in which at least 13 people were reportedly killed, also noting civilian casualties in Russian Federation-occupied territories of Ukraine. Reports that military personnel from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were captured in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation raise serious concerns regarding the internationalization of this conflict, she added.
Turning to the humanitarian crisis, she noted that 12.7 million people will require assistance this year and urged the international community to fully support the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan. The attacks “have also made the situation increasingly dangerous for the diplomatic community and international organizations,” she pointed out, stressing that diplomatic and international personnel and assets must be protected.
Welcoming the prisoner exchange that the Russian Federation and Ukraine conducted on 15 January, she said OHCHR has found that Moscow used systematic torture against Ukrainian prisoners of war. The use of torture against Russian prisoners of war by Ukrainian forces has also been documented. “Global calls for de-escalation […] are growing louder,” she observed, and “the Secretary-General’s good offices remain available to support all good-faith efforts to find a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.”
The Council also heard from Ukraine’s delegate, who stressed the need to counteract the Russian Federation’s “aggressive, imperialistic policies”. Recalling that one of Russian Federation President Vladimir V. Putin’s closest accomplices recently expressed the hope that “Ukraine will cease to exist in 2025,” he said this destructive ambition has guided that country’s policy for decades. It is essential to strengthen Ukraine’s air defence capabilities and dry up the Russian Federation’s oil and gas revenue streams by strengthening sanctions. That country’s “war budget for 2025 is 25 per cent bigger than last year’s”, he said, adding: “If we want to stop the war, we should cut off Putin's cash flow.”
Also recalling how vehemently the Russian Federation’s delegate denied the involvement of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s troops in the war against Ukraine, he said investigations have revealed that the soldiers captured last week “were regular North Korean troops, not mercenaries”. One of the detainees was found with a Russian Federation-style military ID, which he said was issued to him in the Russian Federation in the fall of 2024 when “North Korean combat units underwent coordination training with Russian groups for a week,” he added. The diplomatic path lies through the implementation of Ukraine’s Peace Formula, he underscored. While it is “ready to consider other nations’ peace ideas”, they must take into account the need to restore the territorial integrity of his country and must not equate the victim to the aggressor.
However, the representative of the Russian Federation said that things are quickly unravelling for Kyiv. Many high-level officials are fleeing the country, he said, adding that those speaking out against Ukraine’s regime face torture. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are being pushed back, and losing thousands of soldiers. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is nervous about the danger of having fresh elections, and the fact that the United States Government could audit assistance to Ukraine and examine the scope of the corruption in his country, he said, adding that there are rumours in Kyiv that the regime is preparing a large-scale provocation for which Russian Federation will be blamed.
As for the “Washington puppeteers” of the Kyiv regime, he said, they are worried that their investment in the “anti-Russia project” is going to collapse, similar to what happened with the United States in 2021 in Afghanistan. The rhetoric of the United States and its satellites here has changed considerably, he went on to say. “Initially, they were talking about the need to ensure that Ukraine is victorious,” he said. Then they moved on to supporting the Kyiv regime as long as it takes for the Russian Federation not to be victorious. And today, the idea is to ensure that the “Ukrainian sinking ship” has a strong negotiating position, he said.
The representative of the United States countered this, stressing that “in more than 1,000 days of this reckless war of choice, Putin has failed to achieve any of his goals in Ukraine; instead, he has left Russia’s power and influence greatly diminished”. Some 700,000 Russian soldiers are dead or injured. Meanwhile, Ukraine remains “strong and defiant” as a free and sovereign democracy.
The Russian Federation’s forces have systematically attacked Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, “weaponizing winter” by leaving thousands of households without power, she said. They have abducted Ukrainian children and tried to erase their identities. And yet China’s exports continue to directly fuel the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine and its attacks against civilian infrastructure. “This support makes China the decisive enabler of Russia’s war,” she added.
But, China’s delegate described this as “downright lies through and through” adding that, if his country had really provided military supplies to the Russian Federation, the situation would not be where it is now. His Government has repeatedly emphasized respect for the sovereignty of and territorial integrity of all countries. The United States has used the Ukraine situation to advance its own geopolitical strategy, wanting “nothing more than a weakened and defeated Russian Federation”, he said.
All third countries must immediately cease assisting the Russian Federation, said the representative of the delegation of the European Union, speaking in its capacity as observer, condemning direct military support, as well as provision of dual-use goods. Estonia’s delegate also urged Moscow’s various partners, namely Belarus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran and China, to immediately stop supporting the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine. The Russian Federation on 25 December 2024 downed a commercial airliner flying through its airspace, killing 38 people and seriously injuring many others. “Russia and its accomplices have a proven history of recklessly endangering civilian air travel,” he added.
“Let us call a spade a spade: Russia is targeting its neighbours, employing a sinister tool-kit of aggressive measures,” including everything from sabotage and espionage to assassinations, Poland’s delegate said. That country is violating his country’s airspace, he said, also highlighting the situation in the Baltic Sea where its aggressive actions are impacting civilian vessels. Romania’s representative emphasized that “the war in Ukraine is not a European-only affair”, but a global issue. In a recent unfortunate development, the Russian Federation is supported in its aggression by other countries with soldiers, weapons and “with a ‘closing the eye’ approach”, he said.
The representatives of Greece and the United Kingdom also condemned the Russian Federation’s aggression, with France’s delegate highlighting Moscow’s forcible transfer or deportation of children. “There will also be no peace if accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity is not ensured,” Slovenia’s delegate said, underscoring the role of the International Criminal Court as well as the International Court of Justice. “We are perplexed about the DPRK’s [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s] involvement in the war and the reports of exceptionally high casualties among their soldiers,” he added.
The representative of the Republic of Korea said the testimonies of two soldiers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, captured in the Kursk Oblast, clearly demonstrate that troops from that country “are engaged in combat and being dissipated as expendables”. The two soldiers were unaware of being deployed for the war against Ukraine, he said, adding that they were told they were participating in combat simulation drills. “As a native Korean speaker, I can definitively tell that those two soldiers spoke in Korean with North Korean accents,” he said. “Despite Pyongyang’s efforts to muzzle any rumors,” he said, soldiers’ families in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are fearful that their “sons and brothers are being used as slave soldiers and mere cannon fodder”.
Numerous delegations expressed deep concern over the intensification of the conflict, with Sierra Leone’s representative citing the increased use of stand-off weapons, such as long-range missiles, drones and glide bombs. These weapons, with their extended reach and multiple applications, result in greater casualties and further suffering. Meanwhile, Guyana’s delegate noted that OHCHR has reported a 30 per cent increase in the number of civilians killed and injured in 2024, with this month’s attack in Zaporizhzhia causing the highest number of civilian casualties in a single incident in almost two years. The representative of Algeria, President of the Council for January, speaking in his national capacity, echoed that targeting civilians and civilian objects is prohibited and must be avoided in any circumstances.
Speakers also highlighted the humanitarian suffering, with the representative of Denmark noting that “Each passing day brings further death, destruction and hardship,” for Ukrainians. Millions struggle to secure heating, water and electricity in the cold winter months. “These are not just abstract words in a statement; these represent human lives,” she added. Somalia’s delegate stressed the need to ensure humanitarian aid, noting that 2 million children require “multisectoral assistance”, while Panama’s representative demanded that humanitarian personnel be protected. “They make herculean efforts to provide assistance to the thousands of civilians unjustly affected,” he added. Pakistan’s delegate stressed that “the solution lies in dialogue and negotiations and not on the battlefield”.