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| Deadly Attack Hits Ukrainian Town After Zelensky Denounces Russia’s ‘Absurd’ Security Council Presidency | Deadly Attack Hits Ukrainian Town After Zelensky Denounces Russia’s ‘Absurd’ Security Council Presidency |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Russian forces launched a deadly attack on the town of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, hours after Ukraine’s leader denounced the United Nations for allowing Russia to assume the presidency of the Security Council given Moscow’s ongoing aggression. | |
| Six people were killed and eight were wounded when “massive shelling” hit Kostyantynivka, according to Andriy Yermak, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. In a post on the Telegram messaging app, he added that 16 apartment buildings were damaged, along with private homes, a pre-school and other buildings in the industrial town. The claims could not be independently verified. | Six people were killed and eight were wounded when “massive shelling” hit Kostyantynivka, according to Andriy Yermak, a top adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. In a post on the Telegram messaging app, he added that 16 apartment buildings were damaged, along with private homes, a pre-school and other buildings in the industrial town. The claims could not be independently verified. |
| Kostyantynivka is about 15 miles from the city of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces have been locked in a brutal, monthslong battle to fend off Russian troops. Mr. Zelensky stopped in the town late last month as part of a morale-boosting tour to thank soldiers involved in the defense of Bakhmut. | Kostyantynivka is about 15 miles from the city of Bakhmut, where Ukrainian forces have been locked in a brutal, monthslong battle to fend off Russian troops. Mr. Zelensky stopped in the town late last month as part of a morale-boosting tour to thank soldiers involved in the defense of Bakhmut. |
| The attack there on Sunday drove home Mr. Zelensky’s furious response to Russia’s assumption of the Security Council Presidency, which he said was “obviously absurd and destructive.” | The attack there on Sunday drove home Mr. Zelensky’s furious response to Russia’s assumption of the Security Council Presidency, which he said was “obviously absurd and destructive.” |
| Russia is scheduled on Monday to preside over a Security Council meeting for the first time since it began the full-scale war in Ukraine almost 14 months ago. The Security Council aims to maintain international peace and security, and the role of the presidency is a largely ceremonial one, taken for a month at a time in alphabetical order by each of the council’s 15 members. | Russia is scheduled on Monday to preside over a Security Council meeting for the first time since it began the full-scale war in Ukraine almost 14 months ago. The Security Council aims to maintain international peace and security, and the role of the presidency is a largely ceremonial one, taken for a month at a time in alphabetical order by each of the council’s 15 members. |
| It has come to Moscow weeks after President Vladimir V. Putin was accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court. The situation is a reminder that Ukraine and its allies, most notably the United States and Europe, have not always been successful in isolating Russia economically and politically to punish the Kremlin for the war. | It has come to Moscow weeks after President Vladimir V. Putin was accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court. The situation is a reminder that Ukraine and its allies, most notably the United States and Europe, have not always been successful in isolating Russia economically and politically to punish the Kremlin for the war. |
| “Yesterday, the Russian army killed another Ukrainian child — a 5-month-old boy named Danylo,” Mr. Zelensky said in his nightly address on Saturday. “And at the same time, Russia chairs the U.N. Security Council. It is hard to imagine something evident that proves the complete bankruptcy of such institutions.” | “Yesterday, the Russian army killed another Ukrainian child — a 5-month-old boy named Danylo,” Mr. Zelensky said in his nightly address on Saturday. “And at the same time, Russia chairs the U.N. Security Council. It is hard to imagine something evident that proves the complete bankruptcy of such institutions.” |
| The last time Russia held the presidency, President Vladimir V. Putin declared the start of the “special military operation,” the term used by the Kremlin to describe its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. His announcement came as the Security Council was holding an emergency meeting in the hopes of stopping an invasion. | The last time Russia held the presidency, President Vladimir V. Putin declared the start of the “special military operation,” the term used by the Kremlin to describe its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. His announcement came as the Security Council was holding an emergency meeting in the hopes of stopping an invasion. |
| Three of the Security Council’s 15 current members — China, India and the United Arab Emirates — have avoided openly blaming Russia for the war, instead calling for both sides to cease hostilities. Ukraine is not a current member, but Mr. Zelensky implored those countries to change tack. | Three of the Security Council’s 15 current members — China, India and the United Arab Emirates — have avoided openly blaming Russia for the war, instead calling for both sides to cease hostilities. Ukraine is not a current member, but Mr. Zelensky implored those countries to change tack. |
| “It is important when the states that are neutral in the military-political sense nevertheless take a clear moral position towards Russian terror, towards Russia’s destruction of the global order based on rules,” Mr. Zelensky said. | “It is important when the states that are neutral in the military-political sense nevertheless take a clear moral position towards Russian terror, towards Russia’s destruction of the global order based on rules,” Mr. Zelensky said. |
| Western officials have said that there is no legal path for removing Russia from its permanent seat at the Security Council, which set up Moscow’s presidency for the month of April. While Russia will not hold increased influence during its term in the presidency, it will manage the agenda for meetings. | Western officials have said that there is no legal path for removing Russia from its permanent seat at the Security Council, which set up Moscow’s presidency for the month of April. While Russia will not hold increased influence during its term in the presidency, it will manage the agenda for meetings. |
| Ukrainian officials say more than 450 children are among the thousands of civilians who have been killed in the war and almost twice as many wounded. They also accuse Russia of forcibly moving almost 20,000 Ukrainian children to its territory. | Ukrainian officials say more than 450 children are among the thousands of civilians who have been killed in the war and almost twice as many wounded. They also accuse Russia of forcibly moving almost 20,000 Ukrainian children to its territory. |
| Last week, Ukraine’s allies announced that they would task the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, an intergovernmental group, to formally investigate the widespread reports of forced child deportations, which also formed a key part of the International Criminal Court’s accusations against Russia. | Last week, Ukraine’s allies announced that they would task the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, an intergovernmental group, to formally investigate the widespread reports of forced child deportations, which also formed a key part of the International Criminal Court’s accusations against Russia. |
| “This crime committed by Russia is one of the most cynical and anti-human crimes of our time,” Mr. Zelensky said. | “This crime committed by Russia is one of the most cynical and anti-human crimes of our time,” Mr. Zelensky said. |
| Russian officials were unfazed by the criticism over its assumption of the Security Council presidency. Dmitry Polyanskiy, a deputy Russian ambassador to the United Nations, said his country would act as an “honest broker.” | Russian officials were unfazed by the criticism over its assumption of the Security Council presidency. Dmitry Polyanskiy, a deputy Russian ambassador to the United Nations, said his country would act as an “honest broker.” |
| “Any attempts to provoke us are doomed to fail in advance,” he said on Saturday, according to the Russian news agency Tass. | “Any attempts to provoke us are doomed to fail in advance,” he said on Saturday, according to the Russian news agency Tass. |
| The baby invoked by Mr. Zelensky in his overnight address died in a Russian attack on Avdiivka, a town in Ukraine’s east that has recently been subjected to increased bombardment from Russian troops engaged in a weekslong offensive across a broad front of eastern Ukraine that has seen little territory change hands. | The baby invoked by Mr. Zelensky in his overnight address died in a Russian attack on Avdiivka, a town in Ukraine’s east that has recently been subjected to increased bombardment from Russian troops engaged in a weekslong offensive across a broad front of eastern Ukraine that has seen little territory change hands. |
| On Sunday, Mr. Zelensky noted that it had been a year since Russian forces were driven out of the Kyiv region and renewed his vow that the rest of his country would be liberated. | On Sunday, Mr. Zelensky noted that it had been a year since Russian forces were driven out of the Kyiv region and renewed his vow that the rest of his country would be liberated. |
| “The first offensives, the first achievements, the first liberated territories. It’s been a year since we expelled the invaders from the Kyiv region,” he wrote on Telegram, adding: “And we will free all our lands. We will return the Ukrainian flag to all our cities and communities.” | “The first offensives, the first achievements, the first liberated territories. It’s been a year since we expelled the invaders from the Kyiv region,” he wrote on Telegram, adding: “And we will free all our lands. We will return the Ukrainian flag to all our cities and communities.” |
| For Mr. Zelensky and other Ukrainian officials, that pledge applies not just to the territory Russia has captured since it launched its full-scale invasion more than 13 months ago, but also to Crimea, the peninsula that Russia illegally annexed in 2014. | |
| Underscoring that those goals have not changed, Oleksiy Danilov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, on Sunday released a detailed 12-step plan to “de-occupy” Crimea. | |
| Laid out in a Facebook post, the steps of the plan range from installing a monument to the Ukrainian soldiers stationed on Snake Island in the Black Sea who used an expletive to rebuff a Russian warship’s demands to surrender, to dismantling the Kerch Strait Bridge connecting Russia to Crimea, and imposing criminal punishments on anyone who worked with Russian occupiers. |