Ukraine's Foreign Ministry: It is unacceptable for UN to blame the victim of aggression

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said it was unacceptable to blame the victim of aggression in response to the conclusion of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, which holds that both Russia and Ukraine have violated human rights.

Source: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Quote: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has taken note of the reports prepared by the UN Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, namely the most recent report on human rights issues in Ukraine, and the report on the treatment of prisoners of war.

We are grateful to the Monitoring Mission for its work; particularly the documentation of international human rights and humanitarian law violations committed by the Russian Federation in the course of its armed aggression against Ukraine.

At the same time, we deem placing responsibility on the victim of such aggression unacceptable. According to the UN Statue, Ukraine has the right to self-defence.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has stressed on multiple occasions that the Ukrainian side hopes that the UN mission will avoid any statements that could be interpreted as asserting an equivalence of the victim with the aggressor."

Background:

• The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine published two new reports on Friday, 24 March: on human rights and treatment of prisoners of war (POW); the reports indicated violations on both sides of the conflict.
• Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, said he disagreed with the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission’s conclusion that the Ukrainian side had violated the rights of Russian POWs. Lubinets demanded that the mission provide evidence of POW executions.

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