76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
Statement on behalf of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania at the UN Security Council briefing on Ukraine
Delivered by H.E. Sven Jürgenson, Permanent Representative of Estonia
May 12, New York
Mr President,
I am speaking on behalf of the Baltic countries – Latvia, Lithuania, and my own country, Estonia.
I thank the briefers for their updates on the alarming humanitarian situation in Ukraine and the daily work by UNICEF and OCHA to help those affected by the brutal Russian military aggression.
We cannot consider this dire situation without making clear who, by choice, started this war – and who can end it – the Russian Federation, which must put an end to its aggression and the suffering of children in Ukraine. The Russian aggression has been accompanied by killing, torture and terror aimed at civilians, while demonising and dehumanising them in the Russian war propaganda. Make no mistake – children have been and continue to be targets for Russia. Зa детей – „for children“- written on the side of a Russian missile that struck the Kramatorsk train station was a cynical but revealing expression of this.
Children born in shelters during bombings, living through days of air raids and destruction, stepping on trains leaving their homes and families behind. The UN has recorded 238 children killed and over 300 injured in Ukraine since 24 February – as it admits, a clear underestimate. Hundreds of schools and educational institutions destroyed or damaged according to the UN, most recently Bilohorivka resulting in the death of over 60 people after a Russian bomb flattened the school. Children suffering in besieged cities, such as Mariupol, without access to humanitarian assistance.
In less than 3 months 14 million people, including two-thirds of Ukraine’s children, have been forced to leave their homes. Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner asserts that more than 121 000 children have been forcibly deported to Russia. The forced deportations, along with the Russian steps towards legislative changes to accelerate the adoption of children from Ukraine, in violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, need to be monitored by the UN and other relevant organisations.
The Russian actions represent violations of international law amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as grave violations against children in conflict. This includes killing and maiming, attacks against schools and hospitals, and sexual violence. Russia’s crimes are recorded and it will be held accountable. We underline and support the role of the ICC, the UN Commission of Inquiry, and the UN monitoring mission in this work.
We call for the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1612 as well as further resolutions on children and armed conflict, including resolution 2601 on the protection of education. We recall that Russia, a permanent member of this Council, has endorsed and has to comply with these. We underline the importance of the recording, monitoring and reporting on violations against children in Ukraine to the Security Council, including by the SG’s Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict.
We value the tireless work by UNICEF, other UN agencies, and civil society in Ukraine and beyond to protect children. We welcome the work of the UN and ICRC in coordinating the efforts to ensure the safe passage of civilians, including children, from Mariupol.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will continue to support the work of these organisations and to provide financial and in-kind humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, in the total amount of more than 46 million EUR. We have welcomed those fleeing the war in Ukraine and have offered them access to our education and health systems, as well as online learning opportunities and mental health support for children in Ukraine and those outside.
Mr President,
This Council has stood strong in calling for the protection of children in conflict. It needs to be strong and absolutely clear in calling on Russia to put an end to its aggression and to the horrors it has brought to children in Ukraine.
Thank you.
