33th session of the UN Human Rights Council

Agenda item 3

Clustered interactive dialogue with the Working Group on the use of mercenaries as a means of violating human rights and impeding the exercise of the right of peoples to self-determination and the Special Rapporteur

on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes

Intervention by the Permanent Representative of Ukraine (country concerned)

Ambassador Yurii Klymenko

September 15, 2016

Mr. President,

We welcome the dialogue with the Working Group on mercenaries as a good opportunity to discuss some of the views and conclusions reflected and, more importantly, – not reflected  in the report of the Working Group following the visit of its delegation to Ukraine last March.

We appreciate including some of the Government’s comments in the document but regret to note missing some information that is crucial for understanding real reasons of the phenomenon of mercenarism in Ukraine.

The main shortcoming of the report, in our view, is the refusal of the Working Group to record the evidence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including the creation and control over the terrorist organizations "DNR" and "LNR"; the engagement of regular Russian militaries in training and equipping the illegal armed groups, as well as the direct involvement of the Russian government in bringing mercenaries in order to destabilize Ukraine and to seize a part of its territory.

It is worth mentioning that OHCHR in one of its reports on the human rights situation in Ukraine referred to ”… the presence of an increasing number of foreign fighters, including citizens of the Russian Federation, who were allegedly so called “former servicemen” or active duty personnel on “leave” ... in areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions” controlled by Russia–backed illegal armed groups.

Of an estimated 42,000 combined Russian-separatist forces in Ukraine, a large number are Russian mercenaries. Recruitment offices in Russia actively search for highly experienced former servicemen with military operation experience. Regretfully, the report lacks actual information that has been provided to the Working Group by the Ukrainian authorities. In particular, the Working Group was informed by the Security Service of Ukraine that mercenaries groups participating in the hostilities in the Mariupol area and in the taking over of the Donetsk airport, were composed of former servicemen, a union of veterans, Russian Cossacks as well as numerous other nationalist and extremist organizations associated with the Russian Federation.

These and other Russian fighters, for example, from Chechnya (the Russian Federation), operating on the territory of my country, are commanded and coordinated by the Russian generals and military officers. There is a clear evidence of complicity of the Russian Federation authorities in encroachment on the territorial integrity of Ukraine and waging an aggressive war against my country, including by involvement of Russian nationals in mercenarism and subversive illegal activities in Ukraine.

Russia and its proxies continue to violate the Minsk agreements, in particular with regard to withdrawal of all foreign armed formations, military equipment and mercenaries from the territory of Ukraine under the OSCE monitoring. Unfortunately the report does not contain the explicit recommendation to the Russian side to do so.

And last but not least. As the situation in Crimea, occupied by the Russian Federation, was not studied during the visit, we encourage the Working Group, as well as other monitoring mechanisms to strive for unimpeded international access to occupied Crimea and pay proper attention to this part of the territory of Ukraine, the status of which is prescribed by the General Assembly resolution 68/262 “Territorial integrity of Ukraine”.

Mr. President,

Ukraine remains gravely concerned over state-promoted recruitment of mercenaries, thousands of which the Russian Federation brings to my country with the clear purpose to undermine Ukraine’s territorial integrity and constitutional order – doings  which the UN Mercenary Convention clearly defines as «mercenarism». We appeal to the Working Group to continue paying due attention and considering possible ways of dealing with this extremely dangerous phenomenon.

To conclude, I would like to reiterate the readiness of the Government of Ukraine to make every effort to provide any assistance and information needed in this regard.

I thank you.