“Double Standard”: Russia Succeeded to the USSR Membership on the UN Security Council in Order to Veto Inconvenient Resolutions

December, 24, 1991 Russia took over the USSR membership in the UN Security Council and consistently uses the right of veto to prevent the adoption of unfavorable resolutions by the Security Council. This is especially evident in the conditions of a full-scale, aggressive war against Ukraine launched by Putin. Thus, on February 25, 2022, the Russian Federation vetoed a resolution on recognizing its invasion of Ukraine as unacceptable, and on September 30, 2022, it vetoed a resolution on recognizing the “pseudo-referendums” it held in the occupied territories of Ukraine as illegal. Russia cannot sit, or, moreover, preside over the UN Security Council. These are double standards and violations of the principles of international law.

On March 31, on the anniversary of the liberation of Bucha from Russian occupation, the Russian Federation carried out mass shelling of Ukrainian front-line cities. Three civilians were killed due to the heavy shelling (54 times) of Kherson, a 5-month-old boy and his grandmother died in Avdiivka. It is another war crimes against a civilian population of Ukraine.

After the start of a full-scale war, Russian troops committed genocide of Ukrainians on a national basis, destroyed settlements, engaged in looting, removal of equipment from Ukrainian industrial facilities, theft of grain and food. Special attention should be paid to the forcible deportation of Ukrainian children. At least 19.5 thousand Ukrainian children were forcibly deported from Ukraine and settled throughout the territory of the Russian Federation. This is the assimilation of Ukrainians and identity erasure, a variation of the genocide, depriving Ukraine of the future.

Russia systematically carries out missile terror of the settlements of Ukraine. Since October 2022, Russia has fired 821 missiles at Ukraine as part of 15 massive attacks. Russia continues to launch rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities, despite the unanimous condemnation of this war crime tactic.

In this context, Russia’s presidency of the UN Security Council, which began on April 1, is absolutely unacceptable. Russia does not have the right to lead in this UN body, moreover, it must be excluded from all UN organizations. The terrorist state must be held accountable for all its crimes against the Ukrainian people.