General debate
🇷🇺 Russian Federation
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We regretfully note that certain delegations are continuing to use this committee with impunity in order to promote political narratives. We will take this into account as well as we plan our own future work in the committee. I will comment on the most egregious claims that were made during the general discussion. The reference to the myth of the forcible displacement of children in connection with the SG's annual report on children in armed conflict is a clear example of manipulating information. That document does not attribute the abduction of children to Russia. Overall, the abduction of Ukrainian children is an example of a malicious and large-scale disinformation campaign. The figure of 20,000 allegedly displaced children has no factual documentary evidence. In reality, the Ukrainian side has requested the return of only 339 children. Among them are individuals who have never been on the territory of the Russian Federations, as well as those who have never changed their place of residence and continue to live with their families. At the same time, we have already cited data here from the European Commission on Unaccompanied Ukrainian children in Europe. In 2022, that number stood at precisely around 23,000. However, this issue remains on the periphery of your attention. Efforts towards family reunification are being carried out continuously with Kyiv. At the same time, children are returning not only to Ukraine but also to Russia. This is a two-way process. On the Russian side, the contact person is the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights, Maria Alexeyevna Lvova Bilova. And the issuance of an arrest warrant for her by the so called International Criminal Court should apparently be interpreted as the unwillingness of this quasi judicial body to allow this work to continue. And finally. Advocating for the fate of Ukrainian children while completely ignoring the victims among Russian miners is hypocrisy. Not a single week goes by without reports of Russian children being killed as a result of the use of drones, artillery, and missile strikes, and the detonation of mines and cluster munitions. By the Ukrainian Armed Forces. However, no one here has called Ukraine to account. And that's a clear example of double standards. Thank you for your attention. I thank the uh Russian Federation. Uh that uh brings us to the end of uh any uh requests for the floor. Uh and therefore uh I beg I have Ukraine having requested the floor. Please proceed. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We didn't plan to take a floor, but uh we will have to respond to what has just been uh said in this room. It was reminding that uh today is the birthday of uh Vladimir Putin and uh today uh the Russian army presented him uh with the gift. Overnight and this morning it launched another massive combined attack against Ukraine, civilian and residential objects, using about 70 missiles and more than 100 drones. In Preluki, the city, the Ukrainian city, a Russian missile struck a residential building. At least 16 people were killed, including four children. 55 people were injured, including seven more children. This is what Russia brought to Ukraine today as this committee discussed the promotion of the rights of children. And then its representative comes here on the same very day to lecture about the protection of children. We will simply reiterate what is already well known, thoroughly documented and recognized by the international community. Russia is the aggressor. Ukraine is depending defending its people. For four consecutive years, Russia has been listed by the Secretary General for grave violations against Ukrainian children. Thousands of Ukrainian children have been killed or injured. More than 20,000 cases of their deportation and forced transfers have been documented. Under Russian occupation, Ukrainian children are subjected to systematic indoctrination and militarization. Their language, history, and identity are being suppressed. These are not Ukrainian allegations, these are documented findings of international monitoring mechanisms. And accountability for these crimes is not a distant prospect. Last week, a conference in Toronto has brought together 72 states and 11 international organizations. And demonstrated the breadth of international resolve to return Ukrainian children that have been stolen by Russia, but also Ukrainian POWs and civilian detainees. And Ukraine, together with the international partners and United Nations institutions, will not rest until those responsible are held to account. Perhaps this is precisely what Russia fears, because the circle of accountability is tightening. The evidence is accumulating, international mechanisms are moving forward, most states are joining efforts to return Russia's children stolen by Russia and hold those responsible to account. And the louder the process becomes, the louder Russian propaganda, including in this room, becomes. But not lie will erase these crimes, make evidence disappear, or shield those responsible from accountability. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman. More than 190 peoples live in Russia, 40 of which are small indigenous peoples of the North and Far East. We have consistently been implementing a positive state policy for these peoples. And then like many states, we recognize and protect their rights on our territory. Russia has a functioning legal system with all the necessary guarantees to which Indigenous people have access without any discrimination. Unfortunately, in recent years, the issue of Indigenous peoples is excessively politicized. It is replete with cynical double standards and is aimed at creating divisions and confrontation rather than cooperation between all members of the global community. It is absolutely clear that those delegations that make accusations against us are doing this for political purposes rather than to protect anyone's rights. We would like to Respond to some of the accusations voiced against Russia, in particular regarding the alleged violations of human rights, the rights of human rights defenders. We highlight that any human rights defense activities, including defending the rights of Indigenous peoples, should be within the legisl under legislation in effect, including legislation against combating terrorism and extremism. We believe it is unacceptable for a number of delegations to attempt to interfere in the work of judicial and legal organs of other member states under trumped up and politicized pretenses. The attempts of the Ukrainian delegation to To accuse Russia of undermining the human rights of the residents of Crimea is completely unjustified and baseless, and uh this has been reaffirmed by the ICJ based on the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The court recognized the lack of discrimination against Tatars in Crimea. Situation of the Tatar people and issues that have been piling up as Crimea during the time that Crimea has been a part of Ukraine and which have been pointed out repeatedly by the OSCE and EU were finally addressed only after Crimea was reunited with Russia in 2014. Currently, Crimea is a flourishing region of Russia where peoples of all ethnicities and nationalities have equal opportunities and rights and live together in peace and understanding. We call For states to avoid politicization of our dialogue here in the Third Committee, including when it comes to indigenous peoples. Thank you. Thank you, Russia. Russian Federation. I have no other speaker seeking the right of reply. And if no other speaker identifies themselves as wishing to do so, uh that enables us to move uh uh uh well that uh brings us to the conclusion of our general discussion of agenda item 67, and it enables us to move to consideration of agenda item one hundred and ten entitled Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, and agenda item one hundred and eleven, entitled International Drug Control. All of you will be well aware the documentation relevant to those items is listed on iGov, and we can now begin our general uh discussion of uh items uh 110 and 111 uh uh jointly. Uh quick reminder uh groups have four minutes, uh individual delegations have three, uh, and you will sadly be cut off. But I thank very much uh everybody who's been superbly on time today, so it's been actually brilliant. Um please monitor the live lists and I look forward very much to your ongoing participation. I have a list in front of me, uh, and
Verbatim from the transcript. A reply is identified from its own words, the Chair's grant, or its place in the right-of-reply sequence; delegations and addressees follow the transcript's attribution.