Source: United Nations (video statements)
Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Melnyk today (26 May) “strongly condemned Russia’s escalating attacks” against civilians, civilian objects, and Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure, as they “constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law and must cease immediately” and called for “a full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire.”
Melnyk, together with ambassadors from 49 member states and the European Union, told reporters in New York that “on the night of May 23rd to May 24th, Russian armed forces launched one of the largest combined attacks against Ukraine, employing hundreds of aerial weapons, including ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles.”
For the city of Kyiv, he said, “this was one of the most devastating attacks recorded to date” while “other regions of Ukraine were also severely affected” and “many civilians have been killed and injured across Ukraine.”
Moreover, Melnyk continued, “the Russian Federation appears to have struck the city of Bila Tserkva with an Oreshnik medium range ballistic missile specifically designed to carry nuclear warheads.”
He said, “Russia’s repeated use of nuclear capable missiles constitutes an unacceptable escalation.”
The Ukrainian Ambassador said Russia’s “ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine constitutes a grave and continuing violation of the Charter of the United Nations, and of fundamental principles of international law, and undermines the rules based international order as well as international peace and security.”
He welcomed “the sustained efforts of the United States, European countries and other member states aimed at bringing this war to an end” and said, “we stand united in our determination to achieve a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace for Ukraine consistent with the UN charter, including the principles of sovereign equality and territorial integrity of states.”