Russia took USSR's UN seat illegally: Ukrainian lawmakers approach historian Timothy Snyder

This was reported by the press service of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's Parliament). 

According to the message, the first vice-speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kornienko, the heads of the Committees, as well as the heads of parliamentary delegations of Ukraine in international institutions appealed in an open letter to the historian Timothy Snyder with a request to support in scientific circles the study of the illegality of the Russian Federation taking the place of the USSR in the UN Security Council, as well as in the organization itself. 

"Dear Professor Snyder! Taking into account the fact that for 31 years in a row, UN officials have ignored the fact of Russia's illegal presence in the UN - we ask you to raise this issue in the world expert environment, involving historians, lawyers, and diplomats. We hope that publicizing the fact of the fake membership of the Russian Federation in the UN will force UN bureaucrats to react, and finally deprive Russia of the opportunity to cover up its bloody crimes with the UN flag. We aspire to see the UN flag next to Ukraine's flag at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant ", the press service wrote. 

It is also noted that the Ukrainian People's Deputies support a popular petition in Ukraine to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in which Ukrainians ask for legal confirmation of the Russian Federation's membership in the UN. In case of lack of documents - to terminate the fictitious membership of the Russian Federation in the UN.

"The deputies refer to the violation of the UN Charter, which provides for the admission of a new member to the organization through the voting procedure of the General Assembly, the absence of a mention of Russia in the UN Charter as a permanent member of the Security Council. The signatories remind that the Soviet Union was officially dissolved and ceased to exist, therefore Russia had to follow the procedure of joining the UN, in the same way as other countries of the former USSR, except for Ukraine and Belarus, which were among the founding countries of the UN", the press service of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine wrote.