Russia’s ambassador to the UN this Tuesday included Portugal in a list of countries supplying military equipment to Kiev, accusing them of being “directly responsible for dragging on” the war.
At a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Ukraine, Vasily Nebenzya criticized the West for providing Kiev with long-range weapons and artillery, aiming to target “the Russian-speaking civilian population” in the Donbass region.
“The United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Poland, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Denmark, Spain, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, North Macedonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey , Finland, Czech Republic, Sweden (…) a list of the biggest suppliers of military equipment to the Ukrainian regime, spending billions of dollars”, said Nebenzya.
“Just last week, the Donbass was hit by American and European weapons, which killed six civilians and injured more than 30. Each of these countries is directly responsible for dragging on the Ukrainian crisis and causing deaths”, he assessed.
The Russian diplomat also accused the West of promoting “Russophobia”, indicating, for example, that restaurants in many of these countries refuse to serve Russian customers.
At this Security Council meeting, alleged crimes committed by Russian troops in Ukraine were also under review, with the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, warning of the “grave allegations that have been raised , including the indication of the possible practice of genocide and war crimes”.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24 has already caused more than 15 million people to flee their homes – more than eight million internally displaced people and more than 7.7 million to neighboring countries – according to with the latest data from the UN, which ranks this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
Also according to the United Nations, around 15 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Ukraine.
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by the generality of the international community, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing sanctions that affect virtually every sector, from banking to sport.
The UN confirmed that 4,597 civilians died and 5,711 were wounded in the war, which today entered its 118th day, stressing that the real numbers could be much higher and will only be known when there is access to fenced areas or under intense fighting.