Statement by H.E. Ambassador Dmitry Maksimychev at UNEA-5.2 Plenary in exercise of the right of reply

(Nairobi, 28 February 2022)

I have asked for the floor in exercise of the right of reply in connection with the statement of the European Union relating to the situation in Ukraine. I would like to make it clear that the military special operation in Ukraine launched by Russia for the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine was totally provoked by the Kiev regime itself.

They had eight years to settle the internal conflict by implementing the Minsk Agreements that would create conditions for durable peace and prosperity in Ukraine.

However, the Kiev regime from the outset chose to sabotage the Minsk Agreements approved by a resolution of UN Security Council. Over eight years, they have not implemented a single point of the Minsk Agreements.

During eight years, they were shelling the residential areas of the Donbass killing thousands of civilians and deliberately destroying civilian infrastructures of water, power, and food supply in the region, as well as deliberately denying the civilian populations access to every social service.

This was accompanied by systematic mass violations of human rights and a massive campaign of intimidation and terror against the people of Ukraine itself by the authorities and neo-Nazi groups.

People were murdered, burnt alive, arrested and tortured. Thousand of innocent civilians disappeared. Media were closed, political opponents were persecuted and arrested.

During all those years, Russia demonstrated patience in trying to convince Kiev to return to a political settlement.

But over the last few weeks, instead of stopping hostilities, the Kiev regime decided to escalate the barbaric indiscriminate shelling of the cities and towns in Donbass killing civilians.

After we exhausted all possible means to make the Kiev regime start a meaningful dialogue with the Donbass Republics for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in the East of Ukraine, Russia was left with no other option than to resort to enforcement of peace.

We do not intend to occupy Ukraine, we are not targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure of Ukraine. We want to stop the massacre.

Those who are today concerned with the fate of Kiev regime never noticed the sufferings of the people in Donbass being killed by the Ukraine military and neo-Nazi groups.

This is hypocrisy.