Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United Nations, accused Russia of attempting to “cosplay the Nazi Third Reich” during a Thursday meeting of the U.N.’s Security Council.
Kyslytsya made his remarks directly to Russian Ambassador to the U.N. Vasily Nebenzya, who, because of the Security Council’s rotating presidency, had to preside over the meeting even as Kyslytsya called him out.
WATCH:
Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya:
“Why has the Russian Federation decided to cosplay the Nazi Third Reich? … Yesterday we got the answer: killing Ukrainian children, 108 innocent souls so far.” pic.twitter.com/1La1gLgvU7
— The Recount (@therecount) March 17, 2022
“Let me begin with a quote. ‘The operation is developing successfully and in strict accordance with plans that have been previously approved,’ end of quote – said by Putin yesterday, three weeks after the unprovoked and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Kyslytsya began.
“Over these weeks, the international community has wrestled with the question, why? Why has the Russian Federation decided to cosplay the Nazi Third Reich by attacking the peaceful neighboring state and plunging the region into war? What are the reasons and what is the plan?” Kyslytsya asked.
He then deepened the comparison to the Nazi regime by suggesting that the Russians intended to kill Ukrainian children specifically, noting that civilians had been targeted on numerous occasions and claiming that Russian occupation forces also intentionally targeted children.
“Yesterday, we got the answer: killing Ukrainian children, 108 innocent souls so far. Let me quote again: ‘success and in strict accordance with the plans approved previously,’ according to Putin,” Kyslytsya continued. “Children are deliberate targets, given yesterday’s bombardment of the Mariupol Drama Theater, a shelter for hundreds of local residents, mostly women and children. Despite the big signs, ‘Children’ painted on the road on both sides of the building being clearly visible, Russian pilots dropped an aerial bomb. The building was fully damaged, but the shelter fortunately withstood. It did not turn into one of our mass graves, as Putin’s plan probably envisaged, previously approved.”
Nebenzya claimed that Russia was also concerned that medical facilities in Ukraine had been destroyed, but he claimed that he had no knowledge of who might be at fault.
WATCH:
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzya, via translator: “Who is at fault when it comes to destroying medical facilities in Ukraine is something we have many questions about.”
(It is quite clear who is at fault: Putin and Russia.) pic.twitter.com/UBOIoqbuM9
— The Recount (@therecount) March 17, 2022
“Who is at fault when it comes to destroying medical facilities in Ukraine is something we have many questions about,” he said through a translator.
Russia's UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya on Ukraine assualt:
– Denies Moscow bombed Mariupol theater
– Accuses Nazi groups of not letting people leave
– Western countries fuelling conflict by providing weapons pic.twitter.com/TGZAA5oVjy— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) March 17, 2022
In addition, he accused Nazi groups of refusing to allow people to leave Ukraine, flatly denied that Moscow was behind the bombing of the Mariupol theater, and claimed that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine was being exacerbated by western countries that were providing Ukraine with weapons.