Deportation of 16,000 children, mass rape, 6 mln refugees: Zelenska calls on UN to create tribunal for Russia for crimes against humanity

This is stated on the website of the President's Office.

Zelenska spoke at a special UN meeting on human rights violations in Ukraine due to Russia's aggression, attended by more than 600 representatives of UN member states, NGOs and the Ukrainian community.

The wife of the Ukrainian president emphasized that Russia has deprived 6 million Ukrainians of their homes. And another 8 million have been displaced within their country.

“Human rights are like air – they have no borders. Either everyone has them or no one has them. That is why we say that this year we are not just fighting the attacker. We are fighting for human rights. Common to the people in Bakhmut, Dnipro, Kyiv, Mariupol, and to everyone who is in this room or has joined online. We are fighting for what unites us: the right to life, freedom, the right not to be tortured and to live freely. Therefore, justice for Ukraine is justice for the whole world,” the First Lady said.

Zelenska also spoke about violations of children's rights: 16,000 young Ukrainians were abducted and forcibly taken to Russia, and then transferred to Russian families and orphanages.

Russian actions include such human rights violations that are difficult for victims to even testify about. Zelenska said that the Prosecutor General's Office is investigating over 150 cases of rape committed by the enemy.

The First Lady of Ukraine called on the UN to establish a special tribunal on the crime of Russian aggression.

“It is needed to ‘re-establish faith in fundamental human rights, the dignity and value of the human person, and the equality of men and women’. And these are not my words. This is a quote from the United Nations Charter, signed on June 26, 1945. After another terrible war. But how relevant they sound today! Let's listen to them. Let's finally listen,” Zelenska added.

For reference. A special event dedicated to the anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine is taking place at the UN headquarters in New York from February 22 to 24. This format was introduced for the first time. The representation of the UN member states is comparable to that of the UN General Assembly.

• The UN is investigating whether Russia's shelling of Ukrainian critical infrastructure constitutes a war crime.

• France is working to create a special tribunal to investigate Russia's war crimes.

• On December 2, Prosecutor General Kostin said that the Hague was discussing the creation of an office responsible for the strategy of investigating the crime of aggression.

• MP Andrii Osadchuk said that the International Criminal Court in The Hague is conducting a serious investigation into Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

• In addition, a draft resolution is circulating in the United Nations to establish an international tribunal similar to the Nuremberg Tribunal to bring the Russian leadership to justice for war crimes in Ukraine.

• On January 4, it became known that the Hague City Council supported the initiative of Lotte van Basten Batenburg, leader of the VVD (People's Party for Freedom and Democracy), to create a special tribunal for Russia in the city.

• The President's Office head Andriy Yermak held a meeting of the working group on the issue of establishing a special international tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.