The torture and forced expulsion of 2.5 million people were among the shocking details of human rights abuses against Ukrainian civilians recounted at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Khrystyna Hayovyshyn, told the council that 2.5 million people, including 38,000 children, had been forcibly expelled from the country under a “filtration “Russian.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has also documented cases of “filtration”, he said. During these cases, “the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups subjected people to body searches, sometimes involving forced nudity, and detailed interrogations on personal background, family ties, political opinions and allegiances of the individual concerned”, according to Ilze Brands Kehris. , United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Human Rights.
Brands Kehris said there have been credible allegations of forcible transfers of Ukrainian children to “Russian-occupied territory, or to the Russian Federation itself”.
“We are concerned that the Russian authorities have adopted a simplified procedure for granting Russian citizenship to children without parental care, and that these children may be adopted by Russian families,” she added.
Additionally, Brands Kehris said men and women “perceived to have ties to Ukrainian armed forces or state institutions, or to hold pro-Ukrainian or anti-Russian views” were subjected to torture. , arbitrary detention and “enforced disappearance”.
Russian officials have said the allegations of forced “filtration” are unfounded, adding that new arrivals to the country go through “registration”, not screening.
Refugees and displaced people in Russia are receiving medical and financial assistance, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said in his address to the UN Security Council on Wednesday.
It is very unfortunate that human rights groups are making baseless allegations against Russia, Nebenzia said. “We wasted time” discussing this issue rather than the real issues, the ambassador added.
Meanwhile, Rosemary DiCarlo, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, said more than 6.9 million people remained displaced inside Ukraine, most newly displaced people from eastern and southern Ukraine.
So far, 5,718 civilians have been killed, including 372 children, and 8,199 injured, including 635 children, during the war, she said.
DiCarlo added that “these are only verified numbers and the actual numbers are likely much higher.”