Mr. President,

Let me thank the Deputy High Commissioner for her yesterday presentation and update.

This discussion coincides with a somber anniversary of the Crimean tragedy, which started five years ago and continues to this day.

I wish to use this opportunity to pay tribute to all those thousands, who have suffered, even lost their lives, as a result of the Russian occupation.

This tragedy has particularly affected the Crimean Tatars. For the second time in less than 100 years, they are faced with a systematic effort to push them out of their homeland.

This international armed conflict continues to this day, and the OHCHR specifically referred thereto in its reporting. 

I will be remiss if I do not recall at this juncture the 24 Ukrainian sailors brutally captured by Russia, whose status as prisoners of war has been reconfirmed by the OHCHR.

The absurdity of the situation is that the Russian representatives persist in telling the international community a story of a thriving economy and happy Crimeans. 

A story of a triumph of the “Russian World” erected at the expense of Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians and all those who dared to say that this was a naked aggression and illegal occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula. Just a few days ago, we heard this story in New York, at the Security Council meeting. 

According to Bloomberg, one of the most respecable agencies, this has already cost Russia some one-hundred-fifty billion USD and 10 percent of its growth. And these are not Ukrainian data. 

The grim reality is that Crimean residents have seen a noticeable decline in their living standards. 

The temporally occupied Crimea will undoubtedly return to Ukraine. 

Let me remind that it is not a charity of Moscow but a duty of the occupying power, in accordance with IHL, to take good care of the occupied territory and ensure the well-being of its population.And, of course, it is ITS responsibility to make full reparation for the injury caused, for all damages and violations committed as a result of this internationally wrongful act.

The Human Rights Monitoring Mission, invited by Ukraine to track and document these violations, has succeeded – despite persistent denial of entry to Crimea by the occupying power – in preparing two dedicated reports on the human rights situation in Crimea.

On March 15, in New York, the Russian delegation invited Security Council members to visit Crimea. It would be interesting to see whether the Human Rights Mission would be allowed by the occupying power to cross the administrative boundary line.

Mr. President,

Ukraine appreciates the work of the Monitoring Mission. Having recently extended its mandate, we cannot but express our disappointment that the Mission is unable to properly operate in the occupied areas of Donbas.

As a result, the Mission is denied the possibility to prepare regular and thematic reports on violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the occupied territories. That includes freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of the media, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, freedom of religion and belief, non-discrimination and equal protection under the law.

As regards the monitoring reports related to the human rights situation in the Government-controlled territory, where the Mission can operate fully and without any restrictions, these reports are prepared in a regular and timely manner. 

At times, they contain criticism, which is taken seriously and considered carefully by the Ukrainian authorities. 

Mr. President,

Ukraine requests the Office of the High Commissioner and representatives of the Member States to urge Russia to open the occupied territories in Crimea and Donbas for permanent international monitoring. 

We want to know the whole truth and not that demagogic spam from the Russian representatives. 

Our Government has invited all relevant international monitoring mechanisms, including thematic special procedures, and fully cooperates with various treaty bodies of the UN and the Council of Europe to uphold the highest international standards of promotion and protection of human rights.

Ukraine has always welcomed the maximum possible number of observers from foreign states and international organizations to monitor electoral process in our country. 

For the upcoming presidential elections on March 31, the Central Election Commission has already registered 967 international observers. 

We are ready to listen to all those who are genuinely interested in Ukraine’s democratic future. 

But we will never let us being lectured by the cynical and repeat offenders, who shamelessly violate fundamental principles of international law and order. 

Let’s get to work, less spam and more outcome!

I thank you.

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