Amidst Record Summer Attacks on Ukraine, Security Council Urges Diplomacy
Some Speakers Note, However, Apparent One-Sided Desire for Peace
Detailing a dangerous escalation of attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure by the Russian Federation, senior United Nations officials speaking in the Security Council today underscored the urgency of achieving a ceasefire amidst the rising human toll of nearly three-and-a-half years of war.
“There is no safe place left in Ukraine,” stressed Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator. The humanitarian situation has deteriorated sharply since the Council was last updated on 20 June, and renewed waves of missile and drone strikes have devastated lives and infrastructure across multiple regions. These are “the latest in a series of attacks that have brought even more fear and suffering to communities — both near the front lines and far from them”, she said.
She also emphasized that the use of explosive weapons in populated areas — including long-range missiles and drones — remains a key driver of civilian harm. She further cited the continued use of antipersonnel mines risking civilian lives and livelihoods every day, voicing alarm that Ukraine and neighbouring countries have withdrawn from the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. And, while 13 million people need assistance, she stressed that limited funding means “we can reach only a fraction of them”.
Just 34 per cent of the $2.6 billion required for the 2025 humanitarian response plan has been received, she reported, which is forcing cuts to vital programmes just as needs are soaring. Last week, the UN and its humanitarian partners launched the 2025–2026 winter response plan, which aims to reach 1.7 million people with heating support, winter clothing, shelter repairs and cash. The scale of civilian death and injury and the destruction of infrastructure “must stop” and the international community must support the response, she stressed, as “Ukrainians cannot afford delays or donor fatigue”. She added: “Every contribution counts.”
Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, also spotlighted the “daily barrage of Russian missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities and towns”. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), civilian casualties in Ukraine reached a three-year high in June. In July, Ukrainian authorities have reported that Moscow has launched 5,183 long-range munitions against their country, including a record 728 long-range drones on 9 July.
Also voicing concern over the increasing number of civilian casualties reportedly resulting from Ukrainian drone attacks inside the Russian Federation, he noted that the UN cannot verify such reports. Nevertheless, he condemned all such attacks wherever they occur — they “must end immediately” — and further warned of the significant threat to the safety of Ukraine’s nuclear sites. On 4 July, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) raised concerns over the reported loss of all off-site power at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant for several hours.
Recalling that Ukrainian and Russian Federation delegations recently met in Istanbul for the third time in 2025, he urged the parties towards further progress towards a ceasefire and a lasting settlement. He also noted that the Council unanimously adopted a resolution on 22 July reiterating that all States “shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means”. Quoting Secretary-General António Guterres, he observed: “Diplomacy may not have always succeeded in preventing conflicts, violence and instability — but it still holds the power to stop them.”
Council Members Condemn Attacks on Civilian Targets
In the ensuing debate, a number of delegations — including those of Somalia, Panama and the Republic of Korea — condemned the escalatory attacks, especially on civilian targets. France’s delegate stressed: “Indiscriminate attacks against civilians constitute war crimes.” He therefore called on the Russian Federation to cease its violations of international law and human rights. Slovenia’s representative noted that the latest developments on the ground mean “the picture is grim” with “no end in sight to all the death and suffering” as civilian casualties rise and homes, schools and hospitals are destroyed.
Some delegates, including those of Greece and Denmark, also cited the Secretary-General’s annual report on Children and Armed Conflict, with the latter spotlighting a 60 per cent increase in child casualties — and a “staggering” 150 per cent increase in attacks on schools and hospitals — compared to 2023. She noted that, in addition to the unlawful abduction of thousands of Ukrainian children, Russian Federation forces killed and maimed 671 children, and attacked over 500 schools and over 300 hospitals, despite the protection of civilian objects by international humanitarian law.
Military Action Not the Answer
Turning to nuclear safety, Guyana’s representative noted that IAEA reported on 24 July that its team at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant hears shelling, explosions and gunfire almost every day. Representatives ofSomalia and Algeria insisted that there can be no military solution to the conflict, and the representative of Pakistan, Council President for July, spoke in his national capacity to stress: “A military solution is akin to pursing a dead end. A peaceful settlement must be our lodestar. Diplomacy is the only path forward.”
The representative of the European Union, in its capacity as observer, pointed out that the Russian Federation relentlessly pursues war even as it continues to “shed crocodile tears for the oppressed of the world”. And, while Moscow injects hundreds of billions of dollars into its military, he observed that “it doesn’t have a penny to offer” to alleviate hunger or poverty, or to promote sustainable development. Underlining the “eye-popping” hypocrisy, he implored the Council to “use all the powers at its disposal” to impose a full, unconditional ceasefire and a just, lasting peace.
Other delegations, including Sierra Leone’s, echoed that call, and the United Kingdom’s representative noted that “Ukraine has agreed” to the plan for an immediate, unconditional ceasefire proposed by the President of the United States. Meanwhile, she said that she is “running out of words to describe the ‘biggest attacks yet’ on Ukraine” — the situation makes a mockery of the diplomacy that the Russian Federation claims to support. Moscow has been utterly insincere in its offers of a ceasefire, said Latvia’s delegate, also speaking for Estonia and Lithuania. The bilateral meeting in Istanbul was followed by “Russia’s usual pattern of response”, he said — record indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Speaking as a neighbour, Poland’s representative noted that renewed long-range aviation activity by the Russian Federation near the Polish-Ukrainian border had “prompted us to scramble fighter jets” to “secure our airspace”. And, in response to the immense suffering in Ukraine caused by Moscow’s aggression, Poland has significantly increased its financial engagement. In 2024, Poland allocated more than $40 million for voluntary contributions transferred to international organizations. “Ukraine is fighting not only for its own freedom, but also for the security of all free nations,” he stated.
United States Prepared to Act if Moscow Does Not Cease Attacks within 50 Days
Recalling that her President placed his Russian Federation counterpart “on notice” on 14 July to agree to a peace deal within 50 days, the United States’ delegate affirmed that her Government is “prepared to take further measures” if this is not done. The United States has also urged all countries — including China — to stop the export of dual-use goods that can be used to contribute to drone attacks. On that, she spotlighted the “daily recovery of Chinese-produced components in the drones, weapons and vehicles that Russia uses against Ukraine”. “Now is the time for all UN Member States to do our part to bring this war to an end,” she urged.
Responding, China’s delegate stressed Beijing’s “impartial stance” on the issue, as “China did not start the Ukraine crisis — nor is it a party to it”. Affirming that China has never provided lethal weapons and has always strictly controlled dual-use materials — including the export of drones — he urged the United States “to stop shifting blame on the Ukraine issue or creating confrontation”. Noting recent provocation and “slandering” of China by that representative on other issues, he said that the United States “should be ashamed and disgraced by its own words and deeds” and urged that country to engage constructively in the Council.
Russian Federation Questions Need for Meeting, Ukraine Urges Council to Act
The Russian Federation’s delegate, meanwhile, suggested that today’s meeting might have addressed a “poignant letter” from Ukrainian political prisoners addressed to the Council in July, which called for the repeal of “all illegal sanctions imposed since the start of the war on Ukrainian citizens”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s conscription officers are “literally abducting” people in broad daylight, he said, while Ukrainians are calling their country the “Zelenskyy concentration camp”. Stating that Ukrainian authorities “obscenely exhumed” the remains of 355 Soviet warriors who fought German fascism, he noted that no Western representatives had condemned “these shameful atrocities”.
Rather, he said that this meeting was convened to “artificially maintain the Ukrainian file afloat” and to criticize the Russian Federation for consistently destroying military infrastructure. “In a word, Russia is doing everything it should, given that a war is being waged against it, imposed by NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] countries,” he stated. “We do not strike civilian objects,” he stressed — such objects are affected due to activities of Ukrainian anti-missile defences deployed in residential areas. “The more you deliver military supplies to Kyiv, the more we will strike,” he stressed.
For her part, Ukraine’s delegate said that the Russian Federation has intensified its campaign of terror through relentless drone and missile strikes, deliberately targeting civilians across the country. Meanwhile, Moscow continues its efforts to legitimize the temporary occupation of Ukrainian territories through the systematic militarization, indoctrination and assimilation of Ukrainian children and youth. It further aims to forcibly alter the demographic composition of these occupied territories, including by resettling Russian Federation citizens into these areas under the pretence of mortgage and housing assistance.
Recalling that it has been 136 days since the United States presented its ceasefire proposal, she said that Ukraine “has accepted it” while the “Russian regime continues to show blatant contempt for diplomacy”. Moscow also uses peace efforts to spread its manipulative narratives. “A full, immediate, unconditional and comprehensive ceasefire, for at least 30 days, remains a critical first step,” she said, calling on the Council to urgently adopt a resolution to this end — “thereby demonstrating a credible commitment to ending the war of aggression started by the Russian Federation”.