The United Nations political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo has denounced the “order to deploy Russian troops into eastern Ukraine” during an emergency Security Council meeting on Ukraine.
The session was requested by Kyiv, the United States, Mexico and several European countries after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the recognition of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic on Monday. The rotating Security Council Presidency is currently held by Russia.
“The risk of major conflict is real and needs to be prevented at all costs,” Rosemary A. DiCarlo said, reminding that Russia’s decision to recognize the independence of certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions “in violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty” risk having regional and global repercussions.
“We also regret the order today to deploy Russian troops into Eastern Ukraine, reportedly on a ‘peacekeeping mission’”, she added, recalling that the developments followed the decision to order “a mass evacuation of civilian residents of Donetsk and Luhansk into the Russian Federation”.
Ms. DiCarlo also raised concern over escalating shelling across the contact line, which have reportedly lead to a number of casualties.
She cited the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission in counting 3,231 ceasefire violations in the Donbas area from 18-20 February: 1,073 ceasefire violations, including 926 explosions in the Luhansk region, and 2,158 ceasefire violations, including 1,100 explosions, in Donetsk region.
“We remind all involved of their responsibilities under international humanitarian law and human rights law”, underscored the senior UN official.
Although the UN is not able to verify the numerous claims made by various actors, she expressed anxiety over reports of civilian casualties, the targeting of critical civilian infrastructure, and ongoing evacuations.
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